(This article first appeared in the December print edition of the Hendersonian.)
If ever there was a home that expressed the magic of Christmas through holiday decorations that have been slowly collected and cherished through the years, it’s that of Dr. Paul and Mary Gail Wilder.
The star player in the situation is Santa Claus himself. In the Wilders’ foyer at their North Elm Street home, there’s a 14-foot Christmas tree that puts the Jolly Old Elf fully in the spotlight.
On that tree Santa is depicted in blown glass, ceramic resin, needlepoint … most any material you can imagine.
Santa from different eras from the benevolent Old World Santa to the jaunty, jolly Coca-Cola Santa.
Santa in red. Santa in burgundy. Santa in white.
Santa as a doctor. Santa driving a truck (and the more-expected sleigh).
Santa with lots of toys. Santa with woodland creatures.
A number of Santa figures march up the stairs next to the tree, eventually reaching the top.
The bearer of Christmas joy also appears in many other areas of the Wilder home in addition to the foyer.
In one area of the house, he glides back-and-forth across the room on a line that runs from one side to another.
There’s a whole collection of him on the living room piano, and a handsome, nearly-large-as-life Santa in the dining room (which is all set up for Christmas dinner) wearing a University of Kentucky scarf will sing “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” to you on demand.
There’s an “Impossible Dreams” collection, many with medical themes, that reflect the careers of both Paul and Mary Gail. (Paul retired earlier this year from his family medicine practice of many years and nurse Mary Gail trained many, many caregivers through the nursing program at Henderson Community College before she retired.)
One Santa is playing basketball and another traditional-looking Santa has an electric train circling his feet, much like the Lionel train displayed along with a whimsical lighted Christmas village in another room of the Wilder home.
That train was a gift to Dr. Paul in 1954 when he was a 10-year-old second-grader, and he’s happy to show off how smoothly the six cars plus caboose still flow through the wintry village that includes skaters on an ice rink and a circus tent in addition to its seasonally decorated shops and homes.
“It’s the kind of village we’d like to live in,” Dr. Paul said.
There are Santa figures flanking the fireplace near another Christmas tree filled with very unique beaded and fringed ornaments hand-made by the late Cleo Royer over the years.
The Wilders are always delighted to decorate for Christmas and go on yet another trip down memory lane, even when it takes three days to get the foyer tree up and decorated.
Mary Gail said many of their cherished items have been gifts over the years from patients, from colleagues, from students, from friends and from family, which make them very special, though she’s done a fair amount of adding things herself.
“If I was someplace and there was a Santa ornament I would get it,” she said, “We’ve just gradually added to it over the years.”
