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Letter to the editor

Park's only resident: Santa

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007

Santa and a Christmas tree float in a boat in the Lakeside Mobile Home Park pond. The park has been deserted for months.
	[Jim Damaske | Times]

CLEARWATER

Faded by time, he stands at the stern of a little silver and red rowboat next to a bag of gifts and a Christmas tree.

Every day, he gazes out toward Publix where shoppers buy turkeys for their holiday meals.

For as long as anyone can remember, the chubby plastic Santa graced the pond of the Lakeside Mobile Home Park every holiday season.

Both children and adults thrilled at the sight of him.

But this year is different.

The park closed months ago, and nobody lives there anymore. Over Santa's shoulder, the homes of those who loved him and once claimed him as their own sit vacant and vandalized.

So it is a mystery - and to some, not a pleasant one - who put the display out this year.

Some former residents evicted by the park's owner, Nickel Plate Properties, said they were not happy about seeing the Santa.

None of them said they had a hand in putting him on the pond, now surrounded by a padlocked chain-link fence.

Brenda McElfresh said the big man in the red suit must have used a little magic to get inside.

"Santa got through the gate," she said. "You can't stop Santa."

In May 2006, the park's owner, Nickel Plate Properties, decided to change the land use and develop the site, which is at Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard and Belcher Road. Representatives of the company have not said whether they have a contract to sell the land and did not return repeated calls for this story.

McElfresh, 66, said that when she was forced to move, she "basically lost everything I had worked for 34 years."

She said she had to move to Tacoma, Wash., and was angry to hear that the chief elf was sailing on the pond again this year.

She is among a group of residents who are currently appealing a lawsuit they lost last fall. The company had sued some residents in January to force them out of the park. But a judge found that they were properly evicted.

Some former residents are also filing a new lawsuit against Nickel Plate Properties for allegedly posting personal information regarding storage fees the company says they owe for all to see.

Kenny Everall, 65, lived at the park for two years with his wife, Connie. When the park closed, they moved to another mobile home community close by.

"I saw the boat and the mess out there," Kenny Everall said. "We were living there last year and didn't put the boat out. I don't know why it's out there this year. I don't think the owner would have done that on his own."

Jean Wood, 81, said she has "mixed feelings" about seeing the Santa in the pond. She doubts Nickel Plate's president would put it out there, but maybe a maintenance man might.

Still, despite the hardships, "I'm glad it's out there," she said. "Everybody loved it."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 21:43:32]