WESTON – Imagine the excitement of children when someone knocks on the door on Christmas Eve and when the door opens there stands Santa with a white beard and a red suit. There is a great feeling of enthusiasm brewing in Weston this time of year when children know Santa will pay a visit to all of the homes in the city and give bags of goodies and take gift requests.
Camille Keller, the city council-appointed events coordinator, said she remembers as a youngster having the experience of having the jolly old Elf come to her house. This year she is heading up the Santa project making sure the magic happens in every home he is invited to.
The tradition has been going on long before most of those helping were born.
“Santa has been visiting homes on Christmas Eve for at least 75 years,” she said. “I remember he came to my house when I was younger. It is such a fun tradition.”
She said the families outside of the Weston City limits used to get the visit from Santa, but the town has grown so much he can hardly get around to the town’s children. So, out-of-towners need to be invited in to the homes in Weston to take advantage of the visit.
The bag of goodies is supplied by the city and volunteers from the community will gather at Millie’s, located at 25 E. Depot Street, to fill the brown bags with oranges, peanuts, a sticker and mint before Dec. 21.
“We are looking for volunteers to come and help us fill the bags this year,” Keller said. “We need all the help we can get to be ready for Christmas Eve.”
It only takes a minute or two for Santa to enter the home, sit down and have the children sit on his knees and asks the little ones what they want for Christmas. He hands them the bag of goodies, tells them to go to bed then leaves.
Then Santa gets his reindeer ready to go on his worldwide sleigh ride to deliver Christmas gifts.
Eight men from the Weston area leave their families on Christmas Eve to help Santa make his rounds. An anonymous donor has offered them some money to help them with their Christmas duties.