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Before we officially put the 2020 holiday season in our rear-view mirror, I wanted to post this fun story I spotted on Facebook a couple weeks ago. On the “Overheard in Traverse City” Facebook page, a mom posted this note about how a chance encounter she and her son had with Santa at a stoplight brightened their lives.
“I just wanted to say thank you to this Santa. We pulled up to the light and there he was. We both rolled down our windows, and him and my son spoke to each other about their day and Christmas. The light turned green, he said Merry Christmas and went on his way. My son was so excited and had the biggest grin on his face all the way home and kept talking about him. He was even more excited that today was pj day at school, and his was plaid pants and a santa T-shirt with, of course, a Santa hat, so they looked alike. Thank you for keeping the magic alive. It meant everything to my son.”
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She posted this photo with her note…
I happen to know that this particular Santa is lifelong Old Mission Peninsula friend and neighbor Jack Lardie. He loves being Santa around the holidays, including delighting both kids and grownups alike at the annual Children’s Christmas Program at Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church.
I will never forget when, a few years’ back, Jack sent a candy cane with me to give to my mom when she was living at Orchard Creek Assisted Living in town. She absolutely loved it, and so did I.
Here he is with Mom and our dear friend Ed Brown at church in 2015, before she moved to Orchard Creek. Mom and Ed have since passed away, so this photo is oh so precious.
Because the church children’s program went virtual this year, Jack didn’t get the chance to be Santa there, but being Jack, he still found ways to bring Santa magic into kids’ lives, including that chance encounter at a stoplight in Traverse City.
Thank you, Jack/Santa, for keeping the magic alive! We love you!
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SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
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