Larger-than-life Santa continues to be holiday attraction
by Laura Bednar
If you’re driving around Bath Township looking at holiday displays, there is one house not to miss, and with the size of the decoration, you probably won’t.
A 20-foot figure of Santa Claus will be on display for the 37th year at Ed Hesseman’s home on Shaw Road Ext. Ed’s son Jonathan said from stories handed down, the Santa was built in Germany in 1945. There were said to originally be 12 in the world, with only four or five still in existence. One is along a highway in New Hampshire, another is at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Ed said the figure is made of fiberglass with a wooden frame. “It was made when they were first developing fiberglass,” he said.
Writing on the inside of the framework is in German. Over the years, the Hessemans have added a few two-by-four wood pieces to keep Santa together.
The jolly old elf was displayed in front of a hardware store in Fairlawn before the store went out of business. Bill Falor, owner of The Covered Bridge in Bath (the site of Pint & Pie Works on Cleveland-Massillon Road), then took possession. Ed said Falor kept the Santa for two years before deciding it was too much of an undertaking. He put a “for sale” sign on Santa Claus and waited for a buyer.
Jonathan was about four years old at the time and said he liked the “big ho-ho.”
“It was my wife, Sally, who instigated us buying it,” said Ed. “Jonathan really wanted it.”
Saint Nick visited a few other locations before settling in the Hesseman’s front yard. Ed said after buying the figure he placed it in Hudson, where he worked at the time, but was met with neighbor complaints that it was too commercial. Santa then traveled to Old Trail School, but the schoolmaster asked him to take it down.
Jonathan’s childhood wish for Santa to have a permanent home with the Hessemans became a family tradition. “It starts the holiday season,” said Ed.
Sally, who has since passed away, made the Santa-raising a big deal for the family, which included Jonathan and his two siblings, Michael and Allison. The figure is made up of four pieces and is stored dismantled in Ed’s barn until the holiday season. Jonathan said it takes six or seven people to assemble and raise Santa to a standing position. “At first we did it Amish-barn style with ropes, then we used a crane,” he said.
Nowadays, Ed connects a ratchet strap around Santa’s waist to his tractor to pull the bulk of the weight while family members use wires and brute strength to raise Santa to his usual spot. “It takes a couple hours and we have tried to perfect the process over the years,” said Jonathan.
Once up, the wires on Santa are connected to stakes in the yard to keep him upright. He did take a tumble one year from high winds during a rough winter.
The family erects Santa on the first Saturday in December, a well-known fact in the community. Jonathan’s wife, Kim, said people drive by to watch the process. “You get people coming by who grew up in the neighborhood and now bring their kids,” she said. “People will come with cookies and thank-you cards for Ed for putting Santa up.”
In the evening, ground lights shine on Santa and passersby hop out of their cars to take photos. “Christmas Eve is very busy,” said Ed. “It’s gratifying to see a good turnout with all the kids. It’s cute to see them all.”
Another bonus for children is the chance to mail letters to Santa Claus. A decorative mailbox is stationed in the yard and if a child’s letter has a return address, Ed’s granddaughter makes sure Santa writes them back.
It’s not just the Bath community that has taken notice of the decoration. Jonathan said Channel 3 once taped a weather segment in front of the figure. The Santa is also listed in a book about road attractions in Ohio.
He has also marked historical events. During the Christmas season following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Hesseman family added an American flag to Santa’s hand. In 2020, Jonathan said putting Santa up brought a sense of normalcy to the area when the pandemic brought uncertainty.
The tradition has continued for over three decades with no end planned. “When I said I wanted the big ho-ho, I meant for life,” said Jonathan. ∞
Main photos: The Hesseman family has displayed a 20-foot-tall Santa Claus statue at their Shaw Road home for the past 37 years. This family tradition requires at least six people and a tractor to assemble and raise the statue. The photo of the family shows (l-r) Back row: Jonathan Hesseman, his father Ed, sister Allison and her husband Mark Novak; Front row: Jonathan’s wife Kim and Allison’s children Molly and Evan. Photos submitted.