Joan Butson: Sneaking a peek for Santa Claus

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX —  “One of the things we did as kids is we would sneak down to see if Santa Claus came yet,” says Joan Butson.

“We would pretend we were sleeping, and then we would get up and go down to see if Santa had brought our presents yet,” she said.

Joan is a resident at Ridge Crest Manor, the Community Based Residential Facility at the Colfax Health and Rehabilitation Center.

She grew up in northern Minnesota near Hibbing in a town called Kelly Lake. 

“Kelly Lake was a railroad town. We had a home there. My folks had a grocery store at one time. We had a beach. There was actually the lake there. It didn’t have cabins around it. The town was built around the lake. That was a long time ago!” Joan said.

“We always tried to sneak down to see about Santa, to see if he’d been there. That was Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day we would open presents,” she said.

“There was a school in town, and we had a hill. And you could slide down the hill onto the lake. And yes, we went skating on the lake, too,” Joan said.

“Way back then, people always went out to cut down their own Christmas trees. There weren’t really Christmas trees for sale then,” she said.

Joan went to the Catholic school in Hibbing.

“Growing up in a small town was pleasant,” she said.

Joan’s husband also grew up in the same area.

When asked if she had ever gone out caroling, Joan said people didn’t really get together back then to sing Christmas carols. There was, however, music at the church services.

Joan said she recalled going to church on Christmas Eve.

“It was a nice little town to grow up in. You could get everything you needed right in town,” Joan said.

Joan had one brother and two sisters, and Joan was the oldest. She was born February 2, 1932.

Colfax resident Lynn Butson Schneider is Joan’s daughter.

“When I was growing up, everything was so different. We didn’t do without anything, but everything was so different,” Joan said.

When Joan’s children were growing up, she said they did the same things she did — including sneaking around to see if Santa had arrived yet.

Joan’s husband was a teacher and a principal in Minnesota.

“It was a good life, and it was good memories,” she said.

Joan noted that she actually has quite a long name and also is named for both of her grandmothers.

“At that time, it was the thing to do, to honor the grandmothers,” Joan said.

“And if you went to the Catholic school, then you had another name added. If someone is looking for me, they’re going to have to say all of my names,” she said with a laugh — Joan Frances Margaret Kemp Butson.

Joan says she wouldn’t change growing up in a small town for anything.

“You maybe can’t find too many places like that anymore,” she said. 

Joan had a number of Christmas ornaments displayed in her room, including a Santa Claus on the door with a long white yarn beard, a Christmas tree, a collection of stuffed animals and, of course, her Christmas stocking.

“Yes, I’ve got my stocking up, and I’ll be waiting to see what Santa puts in it!” she said.

The stuffed animal collection has traveled with Joan for many years. 

Nowadays, when she goes to play Bingo and needs a prize, she takes one of her stuffed animals.

“That’s what I remember the most about Christmas, is sneaking down to see if Santa had come yet,” Joan said.

When asked if she and her siblings had ever caught a glimpse of Santa Claus delivering gifts, she said they never did — in spite of all of their best efforts.