The atmosphere crackled with excitement on Wednesday as more than 90 children and the adults who accompanied them waited for Santa to arrive at the Mount Airy Public Library on Wednesday.
“It was wild yesterday,” said Angela Llewellyn, the library staffer who organized the event, after the dust had settled the next day. “We always have a pretty good crowd for this event, but this was an overwhelmingly good turnout. It was great to see that many kids come out.”
The library has offered children this meet and greet with Santa Claus for at least eight years. The children have an opportunity to make their final pleas with the Jolly Old Elf and convince him they have not been naughty during the past year. There is also the added attraction of snacking on milk and cookies with Santa, his favorite snack, as they all know.
While waiting for Santa to arrive, Llewellyn attempted to amuse the children by reading them Christmas stories. But it was clear these kids were in no mood for an opening act. They wanted the headliner. They had not come out to hear “Twas the Night before Christmas.” They had come out to see its star character.
Which they did moments later when Santa arrived with his assistant elf Oliver. Pandemonium erupted. “They really mobbed him,” Llewellyn recalled the next day. “Santa really enjoys this event and looks forward to it. He likes seeing the kids and the wonder they have.”
After Santa had a one-on-one chat with each child, the kids made their way across the library’s activity room to the corner where Friends of the Library volunteers presided over a lavish buffet of cookies and milk. The Friends bake the cookies, get them here and give them out to the kids, and generally help in so many ways, said Llewellyn. “I don’t know what we’d do without them.”
Children who wanted to make a written appeal to Santa to reinforce or strengthen their oral arguments were provided markers and paper to write letters and a special mailbox in which to post them.
For such an important occasion which only comes once a year, it is important to leave nothing to chance.
Tonight the children of Mount Airy, like children all around the world, will leave Santa some cookies to munch on as he unloads their gifts and tomorrow morning they will find out if their last-minute entreaties proved fruitful.
The staff and volunteers of the Mount Airy Public Library can rest assured that they did everything in their power to help.
