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Photo by Andy Atkinson Rogue Valley Mall employee Ron Rogers hooks up lights to the mall Christmas tree. Decking the mall Some pieces are missing from woodsy yule scene By JONEL ALECCIA Santa Claus is coming to town, but he'll be lucky to have a seat when he gets here. The Jolly Old Elf is scheduled to kick off the Christmas shopping season Saturday at the Rogue Valley Mall, but as of Sunday, Santa's throne was stuck in a snowstorm in Fargo, N.D. "We had to push it back a week, but they had to promise it will be here in time," said Joel Fuchs, a landscape manager for the shopping center. The missing chair wasn't the only glitch plaguing Fuchs and more than a dozen workers who turned out overnight to deck the mall with $150,000 of new decorations. The crew also had to cope with tangled twinkle lights, mislaid extension cords and a red carpet a few feet too long. "We'll have to cut it," said Vince Quinones, assistant mall manager, surveying the rug. "We'll cut it and rebind the edge." Even the 20-foot artificial Christmas tree appeared to be missing a fake fir branch. "I can hide that," said Ron Rogers, the mall's maintenance manager. "We have a lot of stuff on that tree." In short, putting up "Santa's Enchanted Forest" was a little like decking home halls on a grand scale. But like domestic decorators everywhere, marketing director Jill Ditty was sure the result would be worth the effort. After all, the holiday scene, scheduled to debut this morning, is the mall's first new "decor program" in five years. Designed by the Becker Group, a Baltimore, Md., decorating firm, it depicts a woodsy visit to Santa's lap, complete with animated animals, giant gold pine cones and a flock of fake Canada geese overhead. "And did I tell you we have four times as many ice light curtains this year as last year?" Ditty said. It's all part of a plan to make the most of the crucial holiday shopping season, during which the mall's 120-plus retailers will make or break their year. Santa alone is expected to attract some 15,000 young visitors willing to whisper wishes and buy photos -- and they'll likely come with a crew of grown-up shoppers. No wonder St. Nick will offer free reindeer antlers to the tykes. The forest scene was one of hundreds of decoration plans mall officials could have chosen when they started planning last January for this year's holiday season. "But we wanted to honor what makes our area so special," Ditty said. "We wanted to bring a little of the outdoors indoors." That sentiment seemed to sit well with shoppers even before Santa's forest throne was completed. Dave and Winnie Bradford of Etna, Calif., took a break from browsing to let their 4-year-old grandson, Ty David, admire the sparkling scene. "I like the honkers," said Winnie Bradford, gesturing to the Canada geese overhead. "He likes the golden pine cones." Other passersby voiced approval as mall stores closed and workers dragged out bubble-wrapped railing and boxes of branches. "Santa's going to be here!" yelped a 20-something shopper with a bag from the Limited. "Wow, they're really going all out this year," said a teenager in a Nike coat. "That's cool." About the only negative reaction has come from shoppers who feel the decorations are being installed too early. "We heard from three or four people," Quinones said. For the folks who work there, decorating the mall has become a holiday tradition itself, said Ditty. No one leaves until the last plastic flake has been carefully placed on the last patch of simulated snow. "We were here until 2 a.m. last year," Ditty said. "And you thought Santa's elves were busy." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA