More displays disappear from Winter Wonderland

No good deed goes unpunished. The sad truth of that old cliche was borne home last week to area Girl Scouts after their Winter Wonderland holiday display in Maryville's Franklin Park was vandalized for the second week in a row.

Over the past two years, the Scouts have spent considerable time, money and effort keeping the Winter Wonderland tradition alive, following in the footsteps of longtime caretakers Carol Jean and Harold Osborn.

The decorations surrounding the little red "Santa's House" in the park just north of downtown have been part of the holidays in Maryville for years.

For several Friday evenings in a row between Thanksgiving and Christmas, parents and toddlers bundled up in coats, mittens and stocking caps and stand in line between two rows of brightly colored candy canes waiting their turn to visit St. Nick.

This year's series of Santa visits will continue weekly, beginning at 6 p.m., through Dec. 21. In addition to face time with the Jolly Old Elf, the gatherings include free popcorn and hot chocolate served by the Scouts inside a heated pavilion.

It's a fun evening for everybody, and local Girl Scouts and their leaders have worked hard to repair and repaint a number of the displays as well as add more lights and other festive touches.

Now if thieves and vandals would just leave the place alone. Talk about earning a spot on the Naughty List.

As reported last week, thefts from the display are so routine that the Scouts don't even place the infant Jesus in the Nativity scene until just before Christmas because the figure is certain to be stolen.

"Well, they took some more of our stuff," said a weary sounding Linda Christensen last week.

Christensen is one of the volunteer leaders of Girl Scout Service Unit 804, whose 300 members in Nodaway and Holt counties took over the Winter Wonderland project after the Osborns' departure.

"They got the other snowman and the Christmas packages on the south side of the park," Christensen said. "They are not being very nice to us this year."

About the only upside is that, unlike past years, no actual vandalism was committed. The remaining ornaments and displays are still intact. Still, 7-foot plywood snowmen don't grow on trees, not even Christmas trees, so the thefts are frustrating.

"I don't think it's (directed at) the Girl Scouts," Christensen said. "They just do it. Both times it's been on Thursday night, and that's the big bar night. The police said they think it's happening after the bars let out."

Despite the thefts, the Scouts plan to persevere. One troop — a group of juniors working toward the Bronze Award — is already making plans for 2013, when it hopes to restore at least one of several large, wooden displays depicting famous holiday storybook covers.

Badly deteriorated by time and mischief, the displays have been absent from Winter Wonderland in recent years.

Other troops want to raise money in order to purchase more Christmas lights.

"We will continue to hold Winter Wonderland," Christensen said. "The main thing is that Santa is there, and that we have lights. So we think we'll be OK. Of course, we're very disappointed. It's just sad, because we get so many compliments and so much appreciation from the community. People think it's great that there's something there for the kids."