A party at Santa's

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Megan Crusher
  • 452nd Air Mobility Wing/Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Senior Master Sgt. Thomas "Mike" Kastner, Senior ART, 452 CES, created a Santa's Village for 452 CES' Christmas party, Saturday. Children ran around excitedly while others stared, transfixed by Sgt. Kastner's creation. 

The tradition started back in 2004 when former March ARB contractor Salvador Ramirez suggested using leftover boxes for a play place that children could crawl through. That idea inspired Sgt. Kastner to build Santa's Village, a labyrinth of interconnected cardboard boxes decorated with colorful holiday wrapping paper. 

Today, Santa's Village is bigger than ever, complete with a neighboring Gingerbread House. 

"The boys tend to occupy Santa's Village and the girls didn't have a place for themselves, so we constructed a place for them" said Sgt. Kastner. 

Santa's Village and the Gingerbread House were built to "create a setting for the kids to enjoy themselves and have fun; for them to feel as if they are a part of the Christmas season," said Sgt. Kastner. 

On the day of the CES Christmas party, Santa's Village underwent the finishing touches from the kids themselves. They added their own decorations to both structures, started playing in the structures at 5:30 p.m. and awaited the arrival of Santa in a fire truck at 7:30 p.m. He sat in front of Santa's Village and handed out presents. 

This may be the last year for Santa's Village because Sgt. Kastner plans to retire. He said that makes this year's Christmas party bittersweet. 

"If I do retire, it's going to be hard," he said. 

The kids agreed. 

"That's horrible!" said Sydney Harnos. "This place is so fun. We get to play hide and seek and have fun! It's mega super awesome!" 

Sgt. Kastner planned and designed Santa's Village using Power Point. 

"I wrapped and built as I went along" said Sgt. Kastner. He called his do-it-as-you-go method "fabrication designing." 

Construction began Nov. 10 and ended on Dec. 10, culminating in about 90 hours of work. The structure was built in seven sections and then joined together. 

"The uniqueness about this year is that the measurements are exact," said Sgt. Kastner. "They also have ventilation shafts on top so as kids are going through it and generating heat, the heat goes through the top of the cardboard and displaces underneath the roof. 

"Last year we had a problem where it got real muggy," he said. "This year that won't happen; the ventilation shafts will allow airflow." 

The sturdiness of the structure is another notable aspect. The cardboard is rated for heavy shipment - twice the size of standard cardboard - about a half-inch thick. 

"There will be no shaking this year,' said Sgt. Kastner. "It's very stable, plus there are additional cardboard supports throughout the entire structure." 

The cost for the structure was about $200; more than half of it coming from Sgt. Kastner's pocket. For this first time, he accepted donations. Donors gave 24 rolls of tape and Christmas lights for the inside of the village. 

The Christmas lights are LED (light emitting diode), which means they don't get hot to the touch. The whole structure is up to fire safety codes, including the materials used and the distance from the walls and ceiling. Plus, everything is recyclable.
 
In the past, the structure was disassembled the day after the Christmas party. This year Sgt. Kastner wants to keep it up through the "B" UTA. But admirers already have dibs on certain portions of the structure, and Sgt. Kastner suspects it will be gone before then. He'll be taking the two towers as mementos. 

"This was a joy to create," he said. "It really brings the meaning of the season out; to see the smiles on their faces and hear the laughter in their voices - that's what it's all about."