It was like Christmas, complete with Christmas carols, for the unveiling of the Santa sculpture in memory of Charles R. Howard at Village Park in Albion on Saturday morning.
The Albion Betterment Committee (ABC) raised over $100,000 for the project over the past decade. Gary Derwick, Joe Gehl, and Gary Kent, who are all members of ABC, have been driving the train from the beginning with help from many other community members along the way.
Brian Porter, the artist who created the sculpture was honored by Tom Rivers for his personal attention to detail when creating the sculpture. He also designed and sculpted the WWI monument in Medina at the Armory.
Talk of creating this statue in memory of Charles R. Howard started in 2015 after the Village of Albion was the host site of a Santa Convention where about 200 Santas came from all over to participate.
Charles R. Howard graduated from Albion High School in 1916. In 1937, he started the Santa School and Christmas Park on Phipps Road in Albion. He was the Macy’s Day Parade Santa from 1948 -1965, and did this until his death in 1966. The Christmas Park was a destination for many people in the area and the world. Link to information: About | Charles W Howard Santa Claus School
The Santa school lives on in Midland, Michigan currently. CWH Santa Claus School| Santa & Mrs. Claus | Michigan for more information.
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The family of Charles w Howard would like to that the young lady videographer who did such a nice job of filming the days event. It was truly a wonderful day for the special man we call Grandpa.