MOUNT DESERT ISLAND HAD A REAL SANTA CLAUS
And it still does.
This story was originally published in 2022. It’s been updated.
THE NORTH POLE AND BAR HARBOR—In 1920, Dr. J.B. Ells came back from World War I and he returned to Bar Harbor. One of his first greeters when he arrived home was a 15-year-old boy who had been paralyzed.
While the doctor was away at war, he became the boy’s hero. And also while the doctor was away at war, the boy’s family became overwhelmed with doctors’ bills because of his condition.
Christmas wouldn’t be visiting that boy’s home that year. There wasn’t any money at all for any presents at all.
But that young man was more worried about other kids in Bar Harbor who might not have Christmas. That plight—the possibility that some Bar Harbor kids might not have presents on Christmas—upset Dr. Ells, who wanted children to have a Christmas no matter what. He decided to do something about it.
Dr. Ells began to work in secret. He sent toys and gifts to local kids year after year. And then it grew bigger.
After eleven years, according to a 1931 Bangor Daily News article,
“520 boys and girls and Bar Harbor know that there is a Santa Claus. They know he lives. They know he answers their letters and sends them just what they ask for. They know that when Santa Claus comes, he brings them nice new things, new coats, new suits, new dresses, new underclothes, boots, shoes, overshoes, rubbers, and brand new toys.…”
Dr. Ells didn’t work alone. Teams of local knitters would make mittens. The Red Cross would help. The YMCA would transform into Santa’s exhibition hall with tables piled with gifts. The American Legion and its auxiliary would help, too. Local merchants would donate thousands of dollars in gifts and money to purchase gifts.
It seems a fantastical tale, nostalgic, from a time of good will toward humans, young and old.
But Bar Harbor and MDI still holds this community spirit, it’s just not quite as lauded or creates as much news as so many other things.
The MDI YWCA still hosts a Christmas event where tons of MDI kids go out and “buy” their family members presents. The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce hosts a Village Christmas event, supported by the MDI YMCA and the Jesup Memorial Library. The Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor has a Santa’s workshop where kids “buy” their family members presents, too. The Witham Family Charitable Christmas embraces joys and hundreds of families with a massive event that also brings toys and warm coats to those who need them.
It all happens because local people make it happen. They volunteer. They knit all year. They become jolly old elves.
It’s even smaller than that, too. One local man, who wished to remain anonymous, heard a developmentally challenged man as he was walking down the road two weeks before Christmas, happily talking to himself about his Christmas list and Santa and what he really wanted for Christmas. With no fanfare, with no hoopla, the man bought that present, wrapped it, and brought it to the man’s group home. He checked with staff first to make sure that it was okay.
This year, a woman made peanut balls and turtle candies and dropped them off across the island at people’s homes spreading cheer. This year, others opened their homes, gave away food, found people shelter, helped people clear trees that had fallen in storms, rebuilding each others lives, one act after another.
Santa can be Santa, hanging out at the North Pole most of the year, but he can also be something that lives inside us, no matter whether we have beards or not. He can be an organization or a community member, an act of kindness or a bit of hug. He can be a hope, a wish, a present, a donation, an act of service, a kind word, and a thought.
That is what Mount Desert Island is about.
It’s what Christmas is about, too. And it is very much still here: real and alive, an honor and a testament to the spirit and legacy of both Dr. Ells and Santa Claus.
As that old Bangor Daily News article reads, “Dr. Ells’ brand of enthusiasm is contagious, and this contagion has prompted the doing of many fine things for Bar Harbor.”
It still does, but not just for one island town. It’s for all of them. It’s easy, the article says, to feel like you know a place in the summer. But in the winter? That’s when the true spirit—oftentimes the holiday spirit—of a community takes hold.
A Quick Note: We celebrate Christmas and Boxing Day (complicated family), so the Bar Harbor Story is going to be a bit thin on news for the next few days as we try to find a work/life/family/Bar Harbor Story balance. If you celebrate, we hope you have an amazing holiday. Similarly, we hope that your Hanukkah is lovely if you celebrate and as you start that celebration tonight.
Thank you for being here with us in this really special community. And for forgiving us our typos.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Our mailing address is 98 Ledgelawn Avenue, Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609. Or just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.
Wait!!! Is this why it is called Ells Pier???
Amazing share...thank you for the good feels :)