Santa Sleigh Rescued From Storage

For well over 50 Christmases, a large wooden Santa and sleigh with moving reindeer stretched across the front yard of Dorothy and Kebel Hinkle’s white house on Main Street in Mountain View.

Thirty-six feet long, with reindeer that moved, the display thrilled generations of Stone County children. Then it disappeared for years. Now, it is back on Main Street, thanks to the talent and determination of Annette Woods, with help from her husband Dana, and local painter, Janice Gwin.

That it was built in the first place is, in itself, amazing. When it was first built in the late 1940s, rural Stone County was without electrification and indoor plumbing, according to the Arkansas Living magazine. According to local historian Robbie Purdom, the city of Mountain View got electricity in 1935. But even in town, Christmas lights and decorations were a novelty and pretty scanty. And Main Street, where the Hinkles lived, was still unpaved.

Imagine Dorothy and Kebel, both in their late 20s, with two small children, living in their new house on the north side of Main Street just east of the courthouse square. Imagine Dorothy showing Kebel a picture in their son, George’s, coloring book. See them going to a builder’s supply and buying big sheets of plywood, hauling them home. Imagine Dorothy looking at the coloring book picture while she drew, freehand, on rough plywood. Picture Kebel with a jigsaw carefully cutting along Dorothy’s lines, which must have seemed endless, until all the parts were free. See them sanding each piece and Dorothy painting Santa, the sleigh, the toys inside it, the reindeer, and the stands that supported it all.

Their daughter, Virginia Parsons, said, “I was told that at first Daddy made just the Santa and sleigh and one or two reindeer. And he put them on the roof.”
Nancy said, “I bet that made Mother a little nervous.”

Later, more reindeer were built and added and Santa’s sleigh came down to earth. Nancy says her father was “an engineer without a diploma” who could build anything. Kebel bought a motor, built pulleys and gears, and hitched them up to the reindeer to make them move. At this time, the Hinkles’ son, George, was a little boy, Nancy was an infant, and Virginia was yet to be born. More than 70 years later, Dorothy and Kebel’s three kids are all grandparents, and Kebel’s running-reindeer machine still works!

The Hinkle daughters are clearly amazed and delighted by the restoration.
Nancy said, “If anybody could have resurrected that display, it had to be Annette Woods.”

Annette visited Dorothy every Wednesday night for years. They became good friends.
“Mr. Hinkle was serious and sincere,” Annette said. “He was a good man and very smart.” Smiling, Annette continued, “Dorothy was a lot of fun. She liked to tell stories, laugh, and play practical jokes. She was witty. She called me her ‘Missionary Friend,’ because I visited on Wednesday night during church time.”

When Kebel died in 2005, Dorothy didn’t think she could set up the big display again. Annette talked her into letting her and her son Hunter Woods give it a try.

Because Kebel had labeled the deer in the order that he had put them together. Annette and Hunter were able to figure out how everything fit and got it working.

For several Decembers, they continued to set up the display on Dorothy’s front lawn.
When Dorothy died at 92 in 2013, her daughters and their brother, George, donated the display to the city of Mountain View. They all lived outside of town, and the display would not be seen at any of their homes. Probably because putting it together was tedious and time-consuming, it was never displayed.

Early this fall, Annette and Dana were riding around when she started wondering aloud about the old display. After a discussion, they decided it would be a long shot, but they would try to find it. They started with city officials, who had no idea about the display’s whereabouts. After several days, they asked Freda Lancaster, who said the last time she saw the display it was stored in a tractor/trailer. It was in a building she had once owned.

Annette and Dana learned that the building and trailer were presently owned by Thomas Condrey. They went to see him, told him what they were looking for, and asked if they could search for it. He knew right where it was.

“All my childhood, that display was a part of this town,” he said. He and his wife had talked about setting it back up, but it needed a lot of work.

Annette told him that if he would let them take it, they would get it back in good shape and see that it was part of the town again. Thomas said he’d have to talk to his wife first.

Before long, he called Annette. He and his wife wanted her to have the display.
Then began six weeks of intense work. One reindeer had to be replaced. The sleigh needed new runners. The top part of Santa’s head had to be recut. Boxes were built to hide the spotlights. Everything was cleaned and sanded painstakingly.

Local artist Janice Gwin volunteered to repaint the display. She spent days in careful, meticulous work.

The whole thing was varnished for extra protection from the elements.

When it was finally ready, it looked new. Dana, Annette, and friends Charles and Barbara Reding set it up late one December afternoon in front of Mitchell’s Pharmacy. It was right back on the north side of Main Street just a short distance from its original location.