HOULTON, Maine — Market Square in Houlton is once again all decked out for the upcoming holiday season following the lighting of the town tree Nov. 25, but Houlton’s downtown is not truly decorated for Christmas until the bust of George Washington has its Santa hat return.
No one knows exactly where the extra large Santa hat originally came from. Three years ago, the hat mysteriously appeared on the sculpture. Jane Torres, executive director for the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, said Monday that she asked multiple people around town if they knew who did it, but it remained a mystery.
“It appeared out of nowhere,” she said. “At first, I thought the Masons did it, but none of them I spoke to knew anything about it.”
Since the hat was not claimed, Torres said she took it off at the end of the holiday season and kept it at the Chamber of Commerce, thinking somebody would come forward to pick it up. When that didn’t happen, she then took it upon herself to see that the hat returned each holiday season.
“At first, I wondered if it was desecrating a public figure, but when so many people came up to me and told me how much they looked forward to seeing it, I decided we needed to keep the tradition going,” she said.
In similar fashion, the town’s Gateway Crossing Bridge also has a benevolent elf that comes out each year and adorns a wreath on the bridge.
“It’s such a feel good thing, which is why I love Houlton so much,” Torres said.
