Christmas City and Merv

In Memory of Merv Griffin

Let's think of snow and Christmas, on this very warm Duluth day.

Merv Griffin passed away this week. Merv Griffin, creator of Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, talk show host and the singer of "Christmas City". What is "Christmas City", my out of state readers may ask? The "Christmas City" song is one that we hear every November during the promotions of our "Christmas City of The North" Parade and during the parade itself. The parade started in 1958 and is a tradition to kicking off the holiday season here every November. The song was written in 1962 by Hibbing native and New York songwriter Don Peterson. Merv Griffin lived in Ironwood, Michigan at one time and he was friends with the manager of the radio station that sponsored the parade. He recorded the song, as a favor (and for free), in a Duluth radio station. This was all before he was a big star and before his game shows. He had a talk show on TV in the 70's that I used to watch every day when I was home with our daughter, before the days of employment. I always enjoyed watching him along with another talk show, Mike Douglas. (Is Mike Douglas still living, never hear anything about him)?Merv will always be remembered by Duluthians for his "Christmas City" song, and every November when we hear it, we will think of Merv. (Sadly, he lost his battle with Prostate Cancer).

"Christmas City, Wonderful City, all dressed up in snow and mistletoe. Christmas City wonderful City, come this Christmas, to the Christmas City, I'll go...."