PEORIA MAGAZINE December 2022

S P O T L I G H T

‘BUT A MINIATURE SLEIGH, AND 10 TINY REINDEER … Meet Mistletoe, Holly, Sparky, Snowball, Griswold, Kringle, Sugar Plum, Marshmallow, Cocoa and Kluger

BY PHIL LUCIANO

T he idea seemed a lmost ludicrous, the kind of offbeat notion that might make sense only in a Hallmark holiday movie. As a second career, a local couple pondered bringing a pair of reindeer to rural Canton, a place where livestock tends toward cows, pigs and such, not arctic beasties. But they had a twofold

vision: As teachers, they could educate children about the animals; as a novelty, the reindeer might boost tourism. And, to add to the whimsy, it didn’t hurt that their last name carried a particular Christmas twist. So, eight yuletides ago, Tracy and Scott Snowman – yes, that’s their real surname — opened a modest exhibit of two reindeer.

56 DECEMBER 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE