Seasonal & Holidays

300 Kids, Families Line Up To See Santa At Fanwood's Famous Christmas House

Video: The line was well over 300 feet long, took Santa 4 hours to see every child, and a record amount of money was donated.

FANWOOD, NJ — Santa's visit to Fanwood's Famous Christmas House was a "smashing success" with 300 children and families coming out. (See video below)

Greg Roser has been decorating his Fanwood home for more than 33 years. This year his house adorned more than 30,000 lights along with hundreds of decorations. It takes him three months to get everything ready. Read More: 30K Christmas Lights, Hundreds Of Figures Decorate Fanwood Home

On Saturday, Santa made a visit to Roser's home with "a record of almost 300 children and their families visited," said Roser.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Santa's scheduled two-and-a-half-hour visit extended to four hours and every child on line was seen by Santa and all received a gift.

Additionally, Roser said a record amount of money was donated to NJ Institute for Disabilities. Roser collects donations for the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities, a charity based in Edison which operates a day school for disabled children whose parents pay no tuition. NJID also operates group homes for disabled adults. All donations go to NJID.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Four dogs also visited with Santa.

Here are some fun facts:

  • The most unusual request, 2 brothers under 10 asked for lawn equipment. One asked for a lawn mower, and the other asked for a leaf blower, and it had to be cordless.
  • Santa had 22 elves helping, and boy did he need the help!
  • Six or more Fanwood police officers attended, giving out milk, cookies, brownies, and coffee. Fanwood PBA Local #123 also made a generous cash donation to NJID. Special thanks go to Lt. Dan Kranz, who arranged this.
  • Santa had visitors from at least 5 NJ counties, and also visitors from NY.
  • Several students from NJID's Lakeview School visited Santa.
  • The most requested items? LOL dolls and Legos, which were really hot this year. A surprising number of 6-8 year old children requested I-Phones.
  • The line was well over 300 feet long during the evening.

Roser thanked his next-door neighbors Jeff and Robin Musso, who donated the use of their lawn for the refreshment table, and the Fanwood Mayor Colleen Yewaisis Mahr, the Borough Council, and the Fanwood Police Department for their continued support.

"Most of all, thank you to my wife of 40 years June who gives me all the love and support I need!" said Roser.


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