That Santa Claus. He’s a clever soul. He’s in so many places at the same time these days.
Whether it’s Santa or others in a similar role, the jolly old elf makes a lot of people happy at this time of year. The same was true in December 1988.
Some Santas are “gig” workers. Once Christmas is over, off they go to the North Pole, or likely somewhere else.
In 1988, the Afton community was home to a “non-gig” Santa Claus. As The Daily Star on Dec. 17 reported, “Santa’s Cottage may not be at the North Pole, but it might as well be. A one-and-a-half mile drive up hilly, windy, snow-covered Sprague Road is the only way visitors can make their way to the farm run by Fred and Linda Kreig.
“Upon arrival, the visitor notes many similarities between Kreig’s place and Santa’s home of folklore — the fallow deer which are not reindeer but bear close enough resemblance to keep the kids believing, and the little helpers who make Santa’s job much easier.
“But Fred Kreig — alias Santa Claus; and Linda Kreig — alias Mrs. Claus; don’t have tiny elves helping them.
“‘The whole place is actually run on kid power,’ Fred Krieg said.
“The Kriegs’ two adopted sons, and anywhere from five to 15 other children a weekend, have built Santa’s Cottage at the Kreigs’ farmhouse between Afton and Coventryville, plus several other buildings on their land. The kids, most of whom are from troubled homes and come to the Kriegs to get a weekend break and to learn trades, range in age from 8 to 21.
“While the Kriegs are helping those youths by teaching them carpentry, electrical work and farm machinery operation, the youths are in turn helping other youths with special needs.”
This became a year round operation in helping young people and those with disabilities, so you might say it was a gift that kept on giving.
While some Santas are usually on the go, getting things done in any December, in Milford, it became a time to just admire him. As Star readers of Dec. 17 also learned, “It’s that time of year when Helen Wade becomes the Santa Claus lady. She brings her collection of over 400 Santas out of storage for friends and relatives to admire.
“She has carefully listed 444 Santas in a record book, each with a notation about the material from which is made and the country from which it came.
“Mrs. Wade, who moved to Milford from Buffalo three years ago, has been collecting Santas 25 years.”
Santa didn’t necessarily have to dress in festive red and have a white beard in 1988. In fact many got into the holiday giving spirit in the Sidney area.
As The Star of Dec. 19 reported, “A 40-year holiday tradition in Sidney had a new twist over the weekend outside Sacred Heart Church on Liberty Street.
“Operation Merry Christmas, which has served the needy in Sidney with food, clothing and toys since it was founded by a clerk in The Hospital shortly after World War II, had its first ever collection drive outside Sacred Heart Church Sunday. The collection was co-sponsored by The Daily Star, which supplied vans for loading the collected goods.
“Lucretia D’Imperio began Operation Merry Christmas 40 year ago, when she was employed as a clerk at The Hospital in Sidney. She and another hospital employee noticed a patient who seemed in need, so they offered to help the patient find clothing and food. Each year, more and more patients seemed to need help, D’Imperio said, so she began going through the community looking for donations from businesses, service organizations and individuals.
“When one business owner asked her for whom she was collecting donations, she made up ‘Operation Merry Christmas’ on the spur of the moment.
“Since then, D’Imperio, with the help of numerous volunteers over the years, has spent much of her holiday time collecting new and used clothing, putting together food baskets and taking any available toys to give away to needy people in Sidney.”
Thirty-five years later, Operation Merry Christmas remains an effective operation in Sidney, as can be seen on their Facebook page.
This weekend, an “athletic” Christmas season in Cooperstown in 1938.
Oneonta City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area before 1950. His Wednesday columns address local history 1950 and later. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is oneontanyhistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/.