Remember When: An unlikely Santa and historic twinkling lights

By Guest Columnist Mary Jane Boutwell 

“Here comes Santa Claus, here come Santa Claus.” Way back, the decorations for the season were primarily in the storefronts. Each business was decorated more or less depending on the type of business and whim of the owners. 

My earliest memory of Christmas in Canton was of the strings of Christmas lights strung across the streets, from the railroad tracks up to and around all four sides of the square. 
I do not know when it started, but there was a Christmas parade from the old Canton High School to the corner where Jones Drug Store was, down to the train station, and around the other side of the square and back to the school. Santa Claus rode on the engine. 

The first parade I saw was in 1953. I was a new member of the band and marched in the band. 

No one has been able to give a date, but, at some point, the wreaths we now see on the light poles were added. Over the years, they came all the way out onto Highway 22 to the GA Carmichael Clinic. 

But best of all was when Earl Halland, working for Canton Public Works, added Santa and his reindeer to the square. He put a cable on the poles around the square, added Santa, his sleigh, reindeer, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Santa and all were pulled (flew) around and around the square.

Last year, as I was going through keepsakes and throwaways, I came across a picture of Santa Claus holding my oldest grandson. Drew as a pre-schooler was afraid of men with beards, but there he sat.

As I have told long-time residents who this Santa’s helper was, they have had as much disbelief with his identity as I did.

The family lived in the community and rode to school with all of us. Over the years, Baby Peterson made quite a name for himself. He was a football player. His name came from being hurt in practice or a game. He was probably hit in the nose and tears flowed. Naturally “Baby” became his name. Football players in the Choctaw Conference learned if they saw tears it was time to go to the sidelines.

Just recently, I found a 1953 Canton High School annual. There was Baby in his football stance and on another page as the “Biggest Male Flirt.” None of the alumni of that period remember that honor or his Santa Claus role, but he made for a great Christmas memory for our family.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Jane Boutwell is a passionate historian and is thrilled to share stories about way back when.