Ho-ho-home at ex-Alna town office

Sun, 12/15/2019 - 9:00pm
    The family who bought and moved into Alna’s old town office this year is making a festive mark on Route 218 this Christmas, the family’s first in the home. Jean Bradford and Alton King III and children have a giant Santa Claus in the yard of their early 1800s cape.
     
    And Santa sings.
     
    “We are so excited to have our first Christmas in our home (and) the kids are thrilled with our giant Santa Claus. He was a family gift from our cousins Mark and Alice Cromwell and he lights up and sings! We haven't seen a whole lot of Christmas decor so we thought everyone driving by would enjoy him,” Bradford told Wiscasset Newspaper.
     
    As of Sunday afternoon, Bradford hadn’t figured out if Santa was motion-sensitive and that triggered the singing, or if the songs were going off at set intervals.
    “Last night I listened to him sing a few different ones and I thought, ‘This guy’s got quite the playlist!’
     
    “He's so much more fun when it's getting dark, then you can see his face really light up,” Bradford added.
     
    Earlier Sunday, when Wiscasset Newspaper stopped to photograph the new sight next door to the new town office, Santa surprised with “Jingle Bells.”
     
    By Sunday night, Bradford said she’d figured out Santa takes a one-minute break between songs. She was still learning the playlist. “I haven't stood out there long enough to get a count (of the songs) yet.”
     
    The family put Santa on display facing the road and the fire station Saturday night.
     
    The town got a modular office this year, put the cape on the market and in July accepted the couple’s $125,000 offer.