Month: March 2022

The Minneapolis Elf Who’s Brought Smiles to Faces for Over 25 Years

Every once in a while, I stumble onto research that is too sweet not to share. My next book takes place in Minneapolis near Lake Harriet, where there just happens to be an elf in residence.

He doesn’t make an appearance in the book (at least, not yet) but if you follow the lakeside trail to the south of Lake Harriet, you will eventually stumble upon the home of Thom the Elf, otherwise known as Mr. Little Guy.

A tiny wooden door at the base of an emerald ash tree is locked from fall to spring while, as a note on the door says, Thom stays in ‘his castle to the east’. In spring, that door opens and is flooded in letters from local children who ask the elf all kinds of questions… and they get answers.

Thom is such a funny, positive fellow and has been at this for so long that the Minneapolis City Council gave him his very own holiday, August 15.

I haven’t made a trip to the area yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to get a photo.