
Jim Yellig

Jim Yellig was a Legendary Santa. For over 54 years he was the full time Santa Claus for the amusement park, Santa Claus Land. This alone is an amazing accomplishment. However, it was his dedication to the "Letters to Santa" that proved he had the heart of Santa.
​
"Letters to Santa" started over 100 years ago. In 1928, James Martin, Postmaster of Santa Claus Indiana began promoting the towns unique postmark. This began a flood of letters to Santa to this small town. James Martin began to answer these letters.
In the mid 1930's, Jim organized the community to help answer the growing number of letters coming into the post office. He reached out to The Sisters of St. Benedict in Jasper, the American Legion Post he created Post 242, and others surrounding Santa Claus Indiana. Jim Yellig's dedication to this "mission" has helped anser millions of letters of the years. His daughter, Pat Koch continues this tradition today.
In 2016, a petition was created to ask the Governor of Indiana to grant Jim Yellig it's highest award, The Sagamore of the Wabash. With the help of several Santa Claus groups, this petition gathered thousand of signatures from those who hold Christmas dear in their hearts.
​
On February 27 2017, Jim Yellig was awarded The Sagamore of the Wabash.
_jpg_5c67cd4dec49.jpg)



