If you ask Cape Coral’s William Snyder about the legendary home of Santa Claus, Snyder will tell you the exact location of the magical North Pole – a location, in fact, right here in Southwest Florida.
“North Pole South,” as Snyder tells it, happens to exist at the start of his very own driveway located at 2005 NE 20th Place in Cape Coral. For more than a decade, Snyder has transformed his small key lime colored house into a Christmas Light and Inflatable Display that started Friday, Nov. 28 and will light up the entire block every night of the season through Dec. 31, 2025. North Pole South is a labor of love for Snyder and his wife, Sue, who were married on March 31, 2018. The duo, known as Santa and Mrs. Claus for the months of November and December, even exchanged wedding vows wearing their respective red velvet suits trimmed in white fur. For this couple, there was no wedding gown or traditional tuxedo. The Snyders embody Santa and Mrs. Claus in nearly everything they do.
Inside their key lime cottage, rows of Christmas cookie jars line the cupboards and counters. In three of the four corners of their living room, themed Christmas trees stretch floor to ceiling. The narrowest of the three trees is a nod to the ocean. Sue has intricately spaced seashell ornaments, surfing Santas, mermaids and even an octopus or two along every branch. She said her love for Christmas began years before she met William. William’s love for Christmas began when he was little boy – decades before he could grow a hearty Santa-like beard.
“When I was growing up,” William reminisced, “I dreamed of being Santa.” As a boy in New Albany Indiana, he watched his great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle and dad each fulfill the role of Santa Claus. The main lesson he gleaned from observing the multi-generational Santas who served before him? “Santa doesn’t turn anybody away,” William stated, almost as a recitation. He added, “Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Mrs. Claus and I will sit in front of the house and greet everybody who comes by. If there are still people here at 9:30 p.m., we’ll still be here to greet them.”…