The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
OLD-FASHIONED FUN
Country Hearth Christmas features visits with Santa in historic log cabin
For anyone who desires to take their children to see Santa Claus but wants to avoid doing so in a mall or large department store atmosphere, the Country Hearth Christmas event in Burton might be more your style.
After all, sitting down to chat with Santa and Mrs. Claus in the historic Burton Log Cabin, with its fireplace and cozy interior, fits the image of an old-fashioned Christmas quite nicely.
The annual Country Hearth Christmas, sponsored by the Burton Chamber of Commerce, opened its 2018 run on Nov. 23 with a 6 p.m. Christmas parade, followed by a Christmas tree lighting, and caroling by Burton Congregational Church, which also provided free refreshments after the festivities.
In addition, Nov. 23 marked the first of three straight days in which the Jolly Old Elf and his wife appeared at the cabin between noon and 4 p.m. to meet with children or the young at heart.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will continue their visits to the cabin during that same four-hour stretch each Saturday and Sunday in December leading up to Christmas, carrying on a longtime Burton
Village tradition.
“We’ve had people coming here for like 50 years — four generations of people coming to get their picture taken with Santa,” said Amy Wehn, Burton Log Cabin manager.
Today, it’s the husbandand-wife team of Paul and Margaret Petras of Burton Village who portray Santa and Mrs. Claus during the Country Hearth Christmas event.
In his role as Santa Claus, Paul seeks to create a calm and casual atmosphere for visitors to the Burton Log Cabin.
“I never rush any of the children,” he said, on Nov. 24 at the cabin. On that day, four of his visitors at the cabin were members of one Newbury Township family.
Elaine Judd brought three of her great-grandchildren — Ava, Calie and Joshua Walker — to visit Santa Claus. Ava is 4 years old, Calie, 6 and Joshua is 9.
“This is a complete surprise (for the kids) today,” Judd said. She told the children that she was bringing them to the cabin to get maple candy, one of the confections sold there.
“Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come in,” she said. “But look how happy they are now.”
Santa visited with the Walker children, showed
them a magic trick and gave them each a stuffed animal from the gift bag he keeps at chairside. The children and their greatgrandmother also enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies, which are offered free to cabin visitors while Santa is on duty during Country Hearth Christmas.
Although Burton Village is known as a small community, Paul said he’s seen his fair share of outof-town visitors stop by the cabin during Country Hearth Christmas. Over the years, he’s met people at the event who’ve lived in Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia. Foreign visitors have hailed from Venezuela and the Philippines.
Paul said he makes it a
point to ask the far-away residents what brings them to Burton Village.
“A lot of them say they’re here to see the cheese factories, which Geauga County is famous for,” he said.
For the Burton Chamber of Commerce, the purpose of Country Hearth Christmas is to do more than spread holiday cheer. The group also hopes that people visiting the event will patronize local businesses and restaurants in the area.
“For us, it’s a way of getting people to shop local,” said Sue Wayman, owner of Coffee Corners Antiques and Coffee House and a member of the Burton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.