Thursday, April 25, 2024
SHARING THE MAGIC: In 2021, visitors of Santa House had to remain behind a clear Plexiglas partition when seeing Santa due to the safety restrictions put in place because of COVID-19.
MOMENT OF JOY: For the first time since 2019, kids will be able to sit in Santa’s lap as the COVID-19 safety precautions are now removed. Although Mrs. Claus is excited to have the magic back at Santa House, she still advises visitors to “stay safe and have a moment of joy.”
After two years of COVID-19 restrictions and precautions, Santa House is back in full swing for the first time since 2019.
Hood County elves work to reconstruct Santa House at the gazebo on the Historic Granbury Square each year, giving kids and adults alike a place to meet Santa free of charge.
Due to the pandemic, Santa House was forced to close in 2020. While children could still meet Santa in 2021, they were not allowed to get close, as a clear Plexiglas partition separated visitors from Jolly Saint Nick himself.
Although Mrs. Claus is excited to have the magic back at Santa House, she still advises visitors to “stay safe and have a moment of joy.”
“We’re asking everybody to be cautious, but we just really want to share the magic,” she said. “I think this year more people need a moment of joy. I think we’re all reaching for it, and we all need it. Santa just wants to bring the magic and the joy and put some smiles on people’s faces.”
She emphasized that Santa House is not just for kids — it’s also for adults of all ages.
“The eldest person to ever sit on his lap is 96 years old, and she had never sat on his lap before. The youngest person we saw was three days old last year," she said. “They come and they share their stories and their stories become part of Santa’s House.”
Mrs. Claus reminisced about two young ladies who brought a young man in his early 20s to visit Santa for the first time last year.
"They were so excited to bring him in,” she said. “You could tell it was such a selfless act. It wasn’t about the girls; it was about him. The Plexiglas was up so he couldn’t really get close, but Santa got up and he asked him what he wanted for Christmas, and he said he wanted Hot Wheels. Coincidentally we had Hot Wheels in a red bag, and we gave it to him. Santa told him to open his present now and this 20-year-old man became a 4-year-old boy. He was so excited to come see Santa, ask for a toy and get that toy right then and there. He got his first present from Santa in his life.”
Another story that will always stay close to Mrs. Claus’ heart involved a young girl who would be playing Mrs. Claus in a Christmas play.
"I wear a key on my neck that my daddy had given me, so I can keep Santa and Rudolph out of my kitchen,” Mrs. Claus said. “When I found out she was going to be me in the Christmas play, it just touched my heart, so I told Santa get this key off my neck and it needed to go on her. She wore my key in her Christmas play, and that Sunday when we emptied the mailbox, she had written me a letter thanking me for the key and that she would cherish it always.”
For seven years, Santa and Mrs. Claus have brought joy to thousands of families each year — and Mrs. Claus wouldn’t trade it for a moment.
“They bring stories, they bring cheer and hopefully we can give them one magic moment,” she said. “I don’t know when we originally talked about doing this that we thought it would get this big, and already our numbers are back up like before COVID. I think it’s going to hit strong this year because I think people need it. We need reasons to have joy.”
Mrs. Claus mentioned that Santa House wouldn’t be possible without the many volunteers who help each year.
"There is no money transpired in this,” she said. “Everybody that works there is a volunteer. We don’t believe how much support we’ve gotten and how big this has grown. It takes a village to run this, and the support we’ve had from individual volunteers and from the courts, the city, Visit Granbury, store owners, the community, they all have just reached out and supported this, and I think that needs to be well known.”
The goal, Mrs. Claus said, is to continue the Santa House tradition for as long as they possibly can.
“When we closed the doors in 2019, we saw 6,745 people. Hopefully, that number will grow,” she said. “We knew the numbers would be down with the Plexiglas, but the numbers are going back up. Just this last weekend, we hit high numbers.”
From Nov. 25 through Dec. 18, located on the grounds of the Historic Hood County Courthouse, Santa House will be open on Fridays from 6-8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m.-noon, 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., and Sundays from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. From Dec. 19-23, Santa House will be open from 6-8 p.m.
Santa House is free to the public. Guests can bring their cameras and take photos at no charge.
Children can write letters to Santa and drop them in the mailbox in front of the courthouse or mail them to: Santa’s House, 1 Pearl Street, Granbury, TX 76048. Mrs. Claus said Santa will respond, but make sure the return address is legible.
Arts & Letters Bookstore, 113 E. Bridge Street, is also hosting Santa’s Reading Room, which will feature favorite Christmas tales and new fun reads just for the holidays. The event will be held every Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m. Dec. 19-22, the week prior to Christmas.
For more information on Granbury Christmas events, go online to visitgranbury.com/events.
