Saline Rec Center Kicks Off Holiday Season at PJ’s With Santa Event

Santa Claus came to visit children and their families at the Saline Rec Center this week to kick off the holiday season. Children heard Christmas stories read aloud by Saline District Library librarians and sang Jingle Bells while ringing bells to welcome Santa’s arrival.

“Today, the library gets to come in and help introduce Santa for the kids at the rec center,” said Jennifer Lupton with the Saline District Library’s Youth Department. “We get to read a story. We read them ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’, and then we sing really loud and have Santa come in. We have a lot of fun.”

Children, who were dressed in pajamas, had the opportunity to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him their Christmas wishes. They shared letters, handmade cards, stories and jokes with Santa. Each child received a stuffed animal and candy cane.

“Today’s event is going great,” Santa reported. “We have a bunch of kids here today to come see Santa Claus, and it’s been a great time to hear all their stories.”

Photographs of each child were taken at their arrival, and then printed off to be used in a craft to make a Christmas tree ornament. Children also enjoyed coloring pages and sticker sheets that they could take home.

While waiting for their turns to see Santa, families enjoyed hot cocoa and cookies.

Stephanie Ferguson, recreational manager at Saline Rec Center, said that over one hundred children were able to attend the event, which was spread over two nights.

“It sells out every year,” she said. “This is a long standing tradition.”

Ferguson feels that this fun event is a more relaxed alternative to the shopping mall Santa experience.

“We try to keep this as low key as possible,” Ferguson said. “The mall can be kind of stressful for parents and kids. The lines tend to be really long. Kids, as we know, don’t wait in lines very well. And then there’s all this pressure when it’s your turn. You don’t necessarily see what’s going on until you're right in front of Santa, and some kids get a little scared or intimidated by that. And then you have a whole line of people behind you that have been waiting just as long as you.”

“Here, they have a chance to meet with Santa, or go get some snacks, cookies, hot chocolate, do a craft and then come back when they are ready. If they give it a try and they’re not quite sure, they can go do another activity and come back.”

“We easily could move it to the gym and we could enroll a whole lot more, but that would really destroy the small, intimate low stress environment. We used to do two time slots years ago. Now we do two time slots over two nights so that we can get more kids in without losing the integrity of this small, intimate event that we have here.”

This year, the event was sponsored by Dan’s Downtown Tavern and Flow 2 Grow.

Ferguson said that more holiday events are scheduled for December, and residents should check the Saline Rec Center’s website and Facebook page for more information.

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