Jolly old elf about town

A seasonal mystery is again unfolding across the region: Santa Claus seems to be everywhere at once.

In Spokane Valley, he’s driven the White Elephant store’s iconic pachyderm off the roof.

In the blink of an eye, though, he’ll be at the “Hillyard North Pole” for a festival that begins Saturday.

White Elephant co-owner Pat Conley said the store’s elephant needed repairs. The sculpture will be back next spring, Conley promised.

Meanwhile, a 13-foot Fiberglas Santa Claus sculpture has taken its place.

Santa usually camps in the store parking lot at 12614 E. Sprague Ave., but took advantage of the elephant’s absence this year. He’s accustomed to a more elevated perch, after all.

Conley said he bought the Santa Claus sculpture 14 years ago from a man who said it used to sit above the entrance to The Crescent department store in downtown Spokane.

The man said he used to work for The Crescent and bought the sculpture as a yard display when the store was sold and later closed.

“It was shoved underneath the back deck of his split-level Spokane Valley home,” said Conley, who ransomed the jolly old elf for $300.

Santa Claus has a roof over his head in Hillyard.

He and the Interdisciplinary Design Studio of Washington State University and a host of craft vendors have set up shop in the former U.S. Bank building at 5101 N. Market St. WSU Students will be giving a presentation on their design concepts for the future development at Hillyard at 1 p.m.

Proceeds from the Hillyard Holiday Festival this weekend and next, will go to neighborhood nonprofit organizations.

Parents can browse gift merchandise and displays of student designs while their children have their pictures taken with Santa Claus. The $5 photos will be printed on the spot.

Hillyard Holiday Festival sweatshirts will be available to dress up those photos with St. Nick.

Father Christmas has a lot of names around the world – Pere Noel, Julemanden, Baba Chaghaloo, Ded Moroz – and in Hillyard he’s known as Clyde Decker. A retiree who collects and buys toys for hundreds of children every Christmas, Decker will be on hand at the Kids Christmas in Hillyard booth.

“He just likes to give back to the kids,” festival spokeswoman Desi Bucknell said.

Hillyard families in need of children’s presents may apply at the Community Health Association of Spokane clinic in the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St.

Donations to the Santa Fund, which supplements Decker’s efforts, may be made at the Hillyard branch of Bank of America, 3009 E. Olympic Ave.

The festival will get started at 9 a.m. Saturday with the COPS Northeast Country and Kiddie Christmas Store at the Northeast Community Center. The event will continue until 4 p.m.

At noon Sunday, the Hillyard VFW Ladies Auxiliary will open its Christmas Bazaar at the VFW hall at 2902 E. Diamond Ave.

The Hillyard North Pole on Market Street will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday this weekend and next.

Shops up and down Market Street – the main drag of the old railroad town – will be open. They also will be trying to win the holiday decoration contest conducted by the festival sponsors.

Sponsors include the Hillyard Festival Association, the Greater Hillyard Business Association and the Hillyard Kiwanis chapter. Developer Darryl Reber supplies the “North Pole.”