Santa Claus is Comin' to Town



Children filled themselves with Christmas cheer on Friday, waiting for their turn to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus.

Christmas cheer and cookies.

Ida Lee Recreation Center continued its "Cocoa with Santa" tradition and offered area families snacks, hot cocoa, holiday-themed coloring books, and of course some one-on-one time with the big man himself.

Three-year-old Madeline Nicklas said that she's been very good this year, but when asked who she was most excited about seeing, she said "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." Luckily for Madeline, Santa brought along some pals.

Both Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman showed up to say "hi" to the kids and take photos before the main event. Mrs. Claus also attended the event and gave candy to all of the lucky children.

Diane Elmore, who brought her son Ben, who's turning three in a few weeks, is hoping for a better outcome than last year. "The past two years he hasn't been so wild about Mr. Santa, so we'll see about this year," she said.

Regardless of whether or not he decides to sit on Santa's lap, Ben was having fun at the event, meeting Rudolph, eating Christmas cookies and coloring. There were children of all ages in attendance; the older ones were intent on telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas, while the younger ones were just excited to play with all of the balloons.

The first thing that Allyson Ratliff, recreation program supervisor did when she took over the Cocoa for Santa event three years ago was recruit her own parents to play Santa and Mrs. Claus. She also changed it from several events throughout the day to one big event in the evening. "I wanted the whole family to come. This way, they can get home, get ready and come see Santa together," she said.