He joined when he was 15–a little young. This is just in the great Alaska spirit. You know, I have talked about it a lot over the years. We have more veterans per capita than any State in the country, so being in the military and a veteran is very normal in Alaska. It is a great part of our culture. 

This young guy Con left Colorado and spent 3 years in the Navy, starting at the age of 15. How he got in, I have no idea. He was on a gun boat in China. Then he got out. Then Pearl Harbor happened. And of course he is a patriot so he rejoined the Navy. He fought in the South Pacific during the Second World War–so a great American, “greatest generation” individual, Con Miller. 

After the war ended, Con and his wife Nellie ended up in Fairbanks with the goal of running a clothing store. To supplement their income, Con sold clothes in the surrounding rural villages, often donning a red Santa suit each Christmas. He quickly earned celebrity status as the local Santa Claus in Interior Alaska–the first that many children had ever seen–ever–in rural Alaska. 

In 1952, the Millers built a trading post 13 miles south of Fairbanks in the newly named North Pole, AK. So just a little south of Fairbanks, the big city in the interior. One day, while working hard at his new store, a young Alaskan boy recognized Con and asked: Well, hello, Santa. Are you building a new house? The inspiration clicked, and Con thought, Hey, why not? Let’s do  this. And so the Santa Claus House was born. 

In addition to purchasing groceries, locals could mingle at the soda fountain and pick up their daily mail at the Santa Claus House under the direction of the post mistress, Nellie Miller–Con’s, a.k.a. Santa’s, wife. It was a mail contract station that served North Pole’s first post office for almost 20 years. So there you have it, North Pole, AK, became a post office for America. 

The Miller family lived above the store and was essential to its operation. All three kids: Terry, Mike, and Merry–yes, Merry Christmas, spelled M-E-R-R-Y, not M-A-R-Y–worked alongside their parents. Despite their insight behind the scenes as employees, current owner and manager Mike said they believed in Santa as much as anyone else. Of course, they did. Everybody believes in Santa. 

As North Pole grew–it is growing; it is a great community, like I said, just a few miles outside of Fairbanks–the Santa Claus House grew with it. Inside the store’s emphasis on Christmas delights slowly replaced the aisles of canned goods. Meanwhile, the Miller family established themselves as pillars of the North Pole community–not only North Pole but all of Interior Alaska. 

Con Miller served as the mayor of North Pole for 19 years–the city’s longest serving mayor-while Nellie Miller acted as a marriage commissioner for the community. Back then, that was a real job, a marriage commissioner. 

Eventually, both of their sons, Terry and Mike, also found politics. The late Terry Miller was a State legislator. He was president of the State senate and was elected to be our Lieutenant Governor in 1978. Mike, who was helping around the Santa Claus House, also served in the legislature as senate president from 1983 to 2001. This is a dominating political family in Alaska, two State senate presidents. 

I knew the Millers. They are a great, great family. Both Miller brothers, very highly respected across the aisle. This is, and was, and has been a great family committed to public service. 

Begun over 70 years ago by Con and Nellie Miller, the Santa Claus House continues as following generations of Millers keep up that Christmas spirit and keep it thriving in North Pole, AK. It is still a family-run business. 

Mike Miller is looking forward to the next generation continuing to run the family business with his daughter Carissa and son-in-law Paul and staffed by several grandchildren. Isn’t this just a wonderful story? It really warms your heart as we head into the holiday season. 

We all know Santa’s job is a hard one, and it is also no small job running the Santa Claus House for the world. In addition to the family, there are between 40 and 60 employees year-round working there. 

Besides being a delightful tourist attraction worldwide, the Santa Claus House understands the true meaning of Christmas and uses its name recognition for good works in the community, organizing food drives for the Fairbanks Food Bank that is used throughout Interior Alaska and many other charities. 

Mike said: I think we have really worked hard to bring the spirit of Santa to our community, “the spirit of giving and family and caring about one another. I hope we have done a small slice [in this service] of helping people to realize that Christmas is about caring about one another, giving, and [about] being good neighbors.” 

That is Mike Miller. 

They have done that in a huge way. They have done more than give a small slice. For the past 70 years, they have given their all toward spreading the magic, the wonder, and the joy of Christmas to Alaskans, to Americans, to people all over the world. 

So thank you to the Miller family and to the incredible institution of the Santa Claus House in North Pole for making our State a more jolly place, a more generous place, a more caring place, and for keeping the spirit of Christmas alive–not just now during the holidays but year-round in the great State of Alaska. 

And, of course, to the Millers and Santa Claus House, congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week. 

I yield the floor. 

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