Christmas Town U.S.A.
By Michael & Boyce Maynor
This story actually begins some 80+ years ago. My grandfather enlisted in the Army shortly after WWII began. While at Fort Bragg, he met a man named Sgt. Boyce M. Falls. Boyce had already served his 3 years of service but re-enlisted to fight in the war. They became close friends and were soon sent overseas. Unfortunately, soon after arriving in North Africa, Sgt. Boyce Falls was killed in Tunisia when his jeep ran over a landmine on March 26, 1943.
Fast forward to 2018, my father, who was named for Boyce, found that Boyce Falls was buried in Gastonia, NC, which is about 120 miles from where we stay. Doing some research, he also found some of Boyce Falls’ relatives (niece and nephews). He still had two sisters living, but they both had dementia. After contacting the niece (Gearldine Moton), my father decided to visit the relatives and Boyce’s grave site. While on the visit, Boyce’s niece recommended a place to have lunch. It was a small restaurant in downtown Gastonia called Tony’s Ice Cream, a landmark in Gastonia known for their ice cream made in their plant beside the restaurant.
My parents, grandmother, Mrs. Gearldine, and I found two empty booths next to each other just before the lunch crowd began to fill the place. So my father and I sat at one booth and let the women sit at the other. Just after we started to eat, I saw an older couple standing, waiting for their order and an available seat. I asked them if they would come and share our table with us. They gladly accepted and sat down. The conversation was at first a time of introductions, but soon they were telling us about some travels, life experiences, and children. They told us that they visited the beaches of NC quite often and passed within a few miles of my home on the way. They asked us about a man that sold sweet potatoes from a roadside stand and they would stop to get a bushel or so on their way home from the beach. But he had not been there for a year or so. They wondered if we knew how to get some potatoes. We exchanged phone numbers and told them to call when they came that way again. My father said he would meet them with some sweet potatoes on their way back home. A dear, close, loving friendship grew from that chance meeting.
Every year around Christmas, hundreds of thousands of people flock to our friend’s hometown, McAdenville, NC. It is a small town with a population of about 900 people. Many know that McAdenville is known as Christmas Town, USA. And just as luck would have it, the gentleman that we met in Tony’s was the man who, along with three friends, started the tradition in 1954. His name is Harvey D. Roberts and his wife’s name is Amelia. In late 1954, Mr. Harvey and three of his coworkers were standing in front of the Stowe-Pharr Yarn Company supply room. Mr. Harvey asked the men, “How can we make this place look more Christmassy?” An idea was born! As the plant manager walked by, Mr. Harvey asked if they could use some scrap metal rods behind the shop. He told them to use all of them if he could. So the four of them made a four-foot-tall MERRY CHRISTMAS and a few stars. They were placed on the hilltop near the plant. The letters, stars, and the tree in front of the fire department were decorated with white lights, since that was the only color they had. Still today, the tree is still decorated with white lights only. In 1955, they added nine Christmas trees. Liking what he saw, Mr. W. J. Pharr challenged them to decorate even more trees in 1956, and with the help of the Men’s Club and the Women’s Club, the stringing of Christmas lights began to grow.
The next year, the residents, most of whom were employees of the mill, began to decorate their homes. Since the only source of electricity was from the homes, Mr. Pharr told each resident that he would pay the difference in the December light bill and their November bill. Meaning that there was no added expense for them to decorate their home. Eventually, the lights were put on an independent system, and the residents were never burdened with any costs for decorating. If you have ever been to Christmas Town USA, I am sure you notice the unique thing about all those lights. Mrs. Ellen Pharr asked in the beginning that only the true Christmas colors be used, so from the very start, the only colors of lights would be green, white, and red. Mrs. Pharr was very hard-nosed about the fact that these lights should always be for the families. So there would be no vendors, handouts, or anything commercial about the lights. According to Mr. Harvey, the Pharr company has turned down huge amounts of money to use the lights as backgrounds in commercials.
In 1959, the lights had grown to the point that a lighting crew, comprised of Pharr Yarn workers, would work with the lights after they got off their shift. Mr. Pharr told them that he would continue to pay them for these hours too. Today it has grown into a year-round task. From removing dead trees to planting new ones or removing all the lower lights on the trees (to keep them from being stolen) to replacing them, the preparation for the next Christmas is ongoing. Starting in August, the lights are checked, tested, and if necessary replaced. (Some are broken and many are stolen for keepsakes.) After the first of September, the next three months are spent getting new lights up and prepped for a December first lighting. The official lighting ceremony is based on a European custom called the Yule Log Ceremony. The first time that the lights drew national attention was in 1980 when Charles Kuralt featured them on the CBS program “Sunday Mornings with Charles Kuralt”. The popularity of the lights has grown to the point that a recent impact study from the Charlotte Economic Department estimates that there are well over 800,000 visitors each year to Christmas Town USA. Mr. Harvey told me he still gets a dozen or so requests each year for interviews. He is the only one of the original four that is still living.
If you are ever in the Charlotte area in December, travel I85 west about 10 miles to exit 23, there will be the little town of McAdenville and you can see the wonder of Christmas Town USA. And all of it started with the idea of our family friend… Mr. Harvey D. Roberts.
In Memory of Amelia Roberts who passed October 23, 2023.
Thanks to Steve Rankin for use of his photos. For more information please visit the official Christmas Town USA website at www.mcadenville-christmastown.com
Michael Maynor
I am a proud native of North Carolina with a deep love for the sporting lifestyle and everything Southern. My book collection seems to grow endlessly, and I have a particular fondness for collecting vintage duck decoys. Despite appearing content, my heart longs to return to Africa for another safari adventure. John 3:16
