Final ride marked the end a 20-year tradition this holiday season

By Matthew Johnson

Reporter

The end of an era was marked by the Santa Truck’s last stops in Menahga on Christmas Eve Wednesday, Dec. 24, capping off a long string of happy memories from the many community stops it’s made over the last two decades.

Frazee High School (FHS) Class of 1983 sweethearts Mike and Patricia “Patty” Melander began operating the Santa Truck over 20 years ago. The couple, with the help of family and friends, have been bringing Santa, Mrs. Claus, the Grinch, Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and other fun characters to area communities on the Santa Truck for 20 Christmas seasons. 

“They’re all family and friends who are all involved with the Santa Truck,” Patty said. “It’s been fun!”

The Melanders are content, after helping bring holiday joy to so many families with children over the past couple of decades, to conclude their operation of the Santa Truck and spend more time with their own family.

“We want to spend more time with our own grandchildren,” said Patty. “This takes up a lot of time.”

The Melanders are, however, encouraging others to consider picking up with the Santa Truck where they have left off. Maybe someone else will head its operations next Christmas?

Mike, owner/operator of Melander Trucking out of Menahga, and Patty, who works on the payroll at Menahga School, may consider offers from other parties to acquire the Santa Truck to continue with the annual Santa Truck tradition.

The Santa Truck itself, complete with a gingerbread house, snowmen, reindeer, Christmas trees, Santa’s sleigh and decorative candy canes literally lights up the night sky with over 10,000 brilliant lights. Those who have been fortunate enough to visit it during one of its community stops agree that it is more impressive in person than in photographs.

“And we probably used over 10,000 zip ties, too,” Patty said.

She said they’ve had to replace the reindeer every few years due to the salt on the roads. The truck is accompanied by a bus ridden by the many beloved characters seen at the community stops. More characters have been added in recent years including Elsa and Anna from the movie “Frozen,” Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Cindy Lou Who.

Many have shared their experiences with the Santa Truck on social media. The following is from a post made by the Heritage Retirement & Assisted Living Facility in Park Rapids: “We are so lucky to get to go on outings in the community. One that we have enjoyed for some years is the Santa Truck. This year was the last year the Santa Truck was happening, and we almost didn’t get to see it because of the weather. Lucky for us, we were able to see it in Menahga! Even got a picture of the bus driver with the Grinch this year. Thanks to the Melander’s and their crew for going above and beyond for us. We are going to miss the Santa Truck.”  

Patty explained that the Santa Truck has visited the specific communities where they have connections including Littlefork, Wolf Lake, Perham, Frazee and Menahga. A cousin of Mike’s owns a family farm in the Littlefork area close to International Falls where the Santa Truck team hunkered down for the night after taking the Santa Truck to visit the community near the Littlefork Mainstreet Pub.

Frazee, in addition to being where Mike and Patty graduated from FHS in 1983, is home to Mike’s great aunt Arlyce who is 101 years old and still lives in her own apartment. Two years ago she was the eldest person to visit the Santa Truck at the Frazee Event Center and at age 99 she absolutely loved it. The youngest person at that event was a two-week old baby.

Mike’s niece works at the United Community Bank in Frazee, which is associated with the United Community Bank in Perham where the Santa Truck has visited. He also has family in the Wolf Lake area including his folks and Santa Truck visits near the Wolf Lake Community Hall are typically well attended. The Melanders, who used to live in Kandiyohi, moved to Menahga in 2000. Mike got the idea for the Santa Truck from the Kandiyohi Men’s Club, which does a similar event. 

“That’s pretty much what we based it (the Santa Truck) off of,” said Patty.

A friend from Hill City had asked the Melanders to participate with a float in Hill City’s 100th Fourth of July parade in 2004. So, they built the Santa Truck’s gingerbread house and the railings.

“It just kind of proceeded from there,” said Patty.

Patty previously had experience volunteering as a character on a train passing through Kandiyohi. The local men’s group decided to display a similar scene on the back of a semi truck.

“We went from town to town on a semi,” she recalls.

Later, following the Fourth of July Parade in Hill City, the Santa Truck’s first Christmas season was in December 2004 and it’s been visiting communities each Christmas season since then with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patty said communities were “a little upset” that the Santa Truck did not come that year.

“We were like, we can’t,” she said due to the obvious contagious nature of COVID-19.

A tradition for the Santa Truck volunteers has been to gather for a potluck meal at the home of a character volunteer after each community visit. Community visits were from 6:30-8 p.m. and then the Santa Truck crew would have the potluck.

Patty pointed out that the Friday, Dec. 19, Santa Truck visit in the Shell Sport & Bait parking lot in Menahga was well attended. The crew prepared over 700 goodie bags to hand out to the kids with every 25th bag containing a ribbon that the crew would then collect. Eleven total ribbons were collected that night, which indicated to the crew that they were able to give goodie bags to over 315 children.

Patty said the communities the Santa Truck has visited have made generous donations to help defray costs including the costs of fuel and lighting. It has been much appreciated.

“It’s been nice to get the donations from the communities,” she said. “It becomes a wash as soon as we’re done.”

Mike has been the electrician for the Santa Truck and, in keeping with the top priority of safety, routinely walked around the truck to be sure all was secure. 

The Santa Truck made one more round in Menahga on Christmas Eve on Wednesday, Dec. 24, parking in various locations. Many thanks are being expressed including on the Menahga Opinions Facebook page, which begins with the following: “Last night was the last time for this Santa Truck. What a shame. But after 20 years of doing it and missing out on a lot of personal time away from family I do understand. They averaged around 750 kids each year including all the towns they stopped at. I felt sorry for all those little kids braving the cold at nine above but looked like the kids loved Santa. So many thanks to Patricia and Mike Melander for all your hard work for doing this and all the time it took to maintain the display. It will be missed.”