Kids Want to Talk to Santa? Lakeville Makes it Happen

area children should be on their best behavior this December, because Santa Claus will be in town for several events throughout Christmas season.

Saint Nick’s arrival is being facilitated by the Department of Parks and Recreation, which will be coordinating several Christmas-themed programs and events in the coming weeks.

The festivities begin at 10 a.m. this Saturday at McGuire Middle School with Santa’s Secret Store, a shop open one day a year where children can select gifts for their friends and family. The event is coordinated to coincide with Holiday on Main, which is also this Saturday.  

“It’s just kind of an inexpensive, fun, neat little way for kids to enjoy the holidays without the emphasis on buying all kinds of big things,” said Dan Brettschneider, program supervisor of the Parks and Recreation Department.

Rather than spending money on gifts, children purchase tickets with their parents, which they then trade for items such as games, coffee mugs and jewelry. Parents wait in a coffee shop set up in the McGuire lunch room, while a staff of approximately 100 volunteers assist the children as they select and wrap their Christmas presents.

“Historically, we’ve had great volunteers that help out,” said Brettschneider.

It’s a good thing, too, because Santa’s Secret Store is the department’s biggest event of the holiday season, with a projected attendance of approximately 450.

The Parks and Recreation Department will also be organizing a program where parents can register for their children to receive a letter or phone call from Santa. Children can also bake Christmas cookies for Santa and meet Mrs. Claus on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the .

The department’s Christmas events are popular with holiday-lovers young and old alike.

“The kids just get a big kick out of it,” said Joe Sturlaugson, who has been making phone calls as a volunteer Santa for over a decade through the Lakeville Lions Club. “It’s a lot of fun.”

To find out more about all the fun this holiday season, check out the Parks and Recreation Department website.