Christmas club: Vanessa Cross, Wendy Adessi and Marg Smerdon are three of the key figures in the development of the Kyabram Santa Cave, which is open from December 14 to 20.
Denise Gemmill’s legacy to the Kyabram community will be on full show on Wednesday, December 14 when the first children wind their way through the Town Hall Santa Cave to remind the merry man in red of their Christmas wish lists.
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It will be the first year (Santa’s Cave operates from December 14 to 20), since it was brought back to life by the long-time Kyabram resident seven years ago, that the Christmas spectacular operates without her being the driving force behind its organisation.
While there are three cogs to the wheel that spins the Christmas themed cave, the two that remain readily admit it was Denise who drove the operation.
“It was Denise that encouraged us to do the cave again. She would go to garage sales and buy Christmas decorations for the cave,” Wendy Adessi explained.
Her husband, Murray Gemmill, was among the helpers at the town hall last week to help decorate the cave.
He recalled how his wife would start buying things for the cave on Boxing Day and continue throughout the year
Wendy and Vanessa Cross will spend their first Christmas co-ordinating Kyabram’s Santa Cave without their long-time friend, who they say was the main driver behind the return of the Allan St attraction.
Denise passed away in May last year, but not before she had brought the Santa’s Cave attraction back to life, with the help of Wendy, Vanessa and the expertise of Cantech’s Scott Collins.
When the women first re-introduced Santa’s Cave it was in a 1.8 metre square area, housed within a camping gazebo.
Even beneath a simple gazebo children would line up to meet Santa, among them were the Collins children, whose constant raving about the cave caught the attraction of their father.
The 2022 version of Santa’s Cave will be dedicated to the memory of Denise.
Preparations for the cave experience will take three days to complete as there are constant additions to the spectacular set up.
The two, along with the tireless Marg Smerdon and Kath Corrigan, have been on site for much of the week putting the final touches on the intricate display.
“We did have a long straight hallway, but kids would sprint up and then sprint back.
“We added some corners to slow them down and we also have two elves that now tell the story of the cave to parents,” Wendy said.
Original artwork, believed to be 50 years old, acts as a backdrop on the walls to the Scott Collins designed tunnel to the cave, which has three corners stretches from the back of the hall along the entire length of the large rear room of the hall.
A Rudolph reindeer donated by former business woman Kelly Parsons stands alongside Santa’s chair, which belonged to Scott Collins' grandmothers.
Favourite time of year: Close friends of Denise Gemmill, who passed away in May last year, say Christmas was her favourite time of year and she loved her involvement with the Kyabram Santa’s Cave program. They are dedicating this year’s Santa Cave to her memory.
“When we first saw what Scott had built we were blown away,” Wendy said.
“It spends the off season in his shed. He made the entrance way and the backdrop to where the Santa photos are taken.
The original Christmas canvases were kept in trust by Stuart Anderson before being donated to Wendy and her team.
The frames of the cave, which are covered in black cloth, were made by Cantech, and on entering the cave, children (and parents) are met by elves that share the story of the cave as they are walking through to meet Santa Claus.
A trading table operates alongside Santa's Cave, along with a raffle, and coupled with the $2 entry for every person that enters there have been regular contributions of up to $7000 made to the town hall — the beneficiary of the annual event.
Wendy does face painting for the week-long operation of the cave, there are plaster moulds (made by Brook Cleveland) for sale and tickets sold for the 25 raffle prizes on offer.
“We get terrific support from the businesses, with vouchers and items, mainly due to Vanessa’s great work,” Wendy said.
There is a Santa’s mail box and parents are allowed to take their own photos and video when visiting.
“We open on December 14, from 11am to 5pm, and finish on December 20 (open until 8pm). The raffle is drawn on December 20,” she said.
Organisers are expecting more than 500 kids through the cave this year.
But there will be a hint of sadness for Wendy and Vanessa, who will miss the banter and fish and chips they used to share with Denise while putting together the display.
The women have enlisted the support of Kyabram Lions club to put up the building and are looking for community volunteers to help with collecting money and operating as tour guide elves.
And to slow the children down that little bit more, they will be involved in a treasure hunt to tick off animals of Australia that are located in the cave on a sheet they are provided with.
