What some were thinking was a bit of typical Oxnard oddity has turned into a signature event.
It was in 2002 when it was announced that Santa was being evicted from Santa Claus Lane just north of Carpinteria to make way for a redeveloped shopping center.
Santa’s next door buddy, the giant snowman, had long since been dismantled and Santa was facing the same fate.
The two holiday statues had long graced the shopping center, harkening back to the era of giant attention-grabbing icons such as plastic and cement dinosaurs, teepees and other roadside oddities as merchants sought to lure drivers off the two-lane roadways of the 1930s up through the late 1950s.
That Santa, which was built in 1948, had survived through the early 2000s was a holiday miracle in itself. But the time had come for Santa to go. Fortunately, Oxnard was willing to take in the giant statue, much to the snickering of some dwellers in the 805 region.
After much work, including closing down parts of the 101 Freeway, trimming Santa’s base so he could fit under freeway overpasses, old St. Nick finally made it down to to his new home at 2801 Ventura Blvd. in the Nyeland Acres neighborhood of Oxnard in January 2003. The relocation was due to the efforts of Mike Barber, race director for Santa to the Sea; Garden Acres Mutual Water Co. and local volunteer artists and crafts people.
Over the years Santa has enjoyed a makeover, new paint and sunglasses during the sunny summer months and fresh surroundings including the planting of everygreen trees to create Santa Park.
Now the man in red serves as a major focus for the “Santa To The Sea Half-Marathon, which was launched in 2008, and the “Santa to the Sea Toy Giveaway.”
Visit http://santatothesea.com for more information.