by Tim Gillie

STAFF WRITER

I spent my early childhood in a small lumber town on the very southern tip of the Puget Sound in Washington state called Shelton. Today the city boasts to have grown to cover 6.11 square miles and holds a little more than 8,700 residents. When I left there about 40 years ago, I'm sure it was much smaller.

I think about Shelton at Christmastime. Not only because that is where I spent my Christmases as a Santa-believing toddler, but also because when I lived there it was known as Christmastown USA.

I believe they claimed the name not only for their Christmas spirit, but also because Mason County -- where Shelton is located -- was at one time the world's largest producer of Christmas trees. Today, they have more than 74,000 acres of cultured Christmas trees. I've used a fake tree every year since moving to Utah.

There was a huge plywood Santa Claus just as you came into town. He sat there all year long, greeting people to "Shelton, Washington -- Christmastown USA." He was huge -- towering at least 60 feet high. He was posed opening his bag of toys. One of the faces of his dolls was on a hinge. Children could climb a set of stairs behind Santa, open up the hinged doll face and insert their own face. Mom or dad could then take a picture from below. It was wonderful.

This summer, we returned to Washington state to visit family in Issaquah and Olympia. I made my kids ride with me to Shelton. I thought it would help them understand me better if they could see where I spent my childhood.

But upon our arrival, I was disappointed to see the Santa was gone! In fact, I could find no reference to Christmastown USA anywhere. My heart sunk as I realized a piece of my happy childhood was gone. Since then, I have felt a little like Citizen Kane searching for Rosebud.

A Google search for "Christmastown USA" revealed that the coveted title is now held by McAdenville, N.C.

After a near gazillion hits on McAdenville, I found out that in 1980, famous journalist Charles Kuralt did a broadcast from the town and dubbed it "Christmastown USA."

McAdenville claims to have been celebrating Christmas since 1956, which is one year longer than I have been celebrating the holiday. Apparently, every year the townspeople go all out decorating and hold a ceremony to flip a switch and light up the town. People even come from foreign countries for the celebration.

The only remnant of Christmastown USA I can find in Shelton is the annual Christmas parade put on by the chamber of commerce called "Christmastown Parade."

All things must change, but they can't take Christmastown out of my heart.

I thought maybe we could make Tooele "Christmas City USA." You know, maybe add a few more lights, decorate the storefronts, have some Christmas carolers in the park at the corner of Main and Vine and a Santa house in the park by the pool. But a quick Google search reveals that title is already claimed by Marion, Ind.; Bethlehem, Penn.; and someplace in Idaho called Heyburn.

tgillie@tooeletranscript.com