Santa drops in for cocoa at area art center

The sound of Christmas music stirred the air, the tree was decorated, and the lights were all there, the bells were jingling and Santa, in his best red coat, was a seat in his chair. 
The Owatonna Art Center held its annual Cocoa with Santa event on Saturday. It is an event, which brings together holiday cheer and a little bit of extra magic for all the children attending.
The Art Center has been hosting this event for 15 years, and Santa and Mrs. Claus have been there, ready to share Christmas stories and sip cocoa with the children and their families. Mrs. Claus plays the piano, while Santa greets and meets the children, who sang him happy birthday and together recited variations on classic Christmas songs. 
When asked what his favorite song is, Santa explained that he loves singing those that the children enjoy the most, namely “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Mrs. Claus attested to the fact that Santa is indeed a good singer, and when asked what her favorite holiday song is, she replied with a fitting choice: “Santa Claus is coming to Town.”
They met years ago when Mrs. Claus was celebrating her birthday, and Santa, then the cook at her birthday celebration, made such a striking figure with his tall stature and white whiskers, that she wondered if he might don that famous red suit and become Kris Kringle himself for the season. 
Santa explains that when he puts the outfit on, complete with glasses and hat, and then picks up his bag –he is Santa, at least until he takes the outfit, and its accoutrements, off for the season. Mrs. Claus believes that, “there are the whiskers and there is the magic.”
But Santa and Mrs. Claus weren’t the only ones in attendance. The Art Center also hosted many children and their families, as well as volunteer elves. 
One of these elves, a particularly young volunteer, Kayla Klinkenberg, says it’s her second year volunteering for the event, and that her favorite part is seeing the kids’ faces as they light up upon catching a glimpse of Santa. She has previously raised money for local canines through PayPal and helps with the decorating and activates at the event. 
When asked who is her favorite, Santa or Mrs. Claus, she affirms that “its unfair to ask an elf to pick favorites,” a sentiment she repeated when asked which reindeer she likes the most. She also says that she plans on volunteering again next year, and that the event can be “busy, but is also a lot of fun.” Her favorite thing to do on Christmas is to bake and make candy.
The event is a great chance for families to get their holiday celebrations started early, as well as a good opportunity to celebrate the coming holiday with members of the community. Santa described how he has had many toy requests over the years, and this year is no different. A few of the more common requests he gets are for electronics, and cell phones, as well as popular toys such as “Hatchables.”
But not all requests can be so easily filled. Mrs. Claus jokingly admits that Santa has to be able to “soft shoe some of the big requests” but that he doesn’t ever want to disappoint the children. He uses a “magical” timepiece in order to calm down some of the more nervous children and Mrs. Claus says that when Santa puts on the outfit his family grows. A family as large as the community.
One of the children in attendance, Marlo Marks, asked Santa for a blanket this year. She is 4 years old and her favorite Christmas song is “Jingle Bells.” Asked who she likes better, Santa or Mrs. Claus, she had no qualms about picking a favorite, saying that Santa was her number one choice. But she also likes Mrs. Claus as well. She said that she looked forward to seeing Santa and that she enjoyed the reading of Polar Express. 
Mary Kay Feltes, who also volunteers, gave this year’s reading of Polar Express, a book she has been reading to the children at the Art Center since 1985. Prior to 1985, she used to read an assortment of other holiday themed stories but says that she loves the Polar Express, and also enjoys seeing how the children react to the story. She says that their awed reactions to the bell she rings at the end of the reading is her favorite part.
The event sprang from an idea of Silvan Durben’s many years ago, and continues to this day. Durben is the creative director at the Art Center, and explains that the event is just as much fun for the parents as it is for their kids. 
Durben says that the holidays represent the season of friendship and hope, which are themes shared during the event. Santa and Mrs. Claus undoubtedly looked the part, although Santa admits that sometimes children will ask him if he is indeed the real Santa, to which he always responds with “What do you think?” 

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It seems this year many are willing to believe.