Great Falls, Mont. – Laura Vukasin was a school district trustee for 19 years. As trustees, they would go read to different schools. Five years ago, when the trustees visited Longfellow School right after Christmas break, the teacher of a first-grade class asked the class to share what they had done over the holiday vacation. “The third little boy said, ‘I don’t have a lot to tell you, I must not have been very good this year.’ The teacher asked, ‘Why would you say that?’ he said, ‘Because Santa didn’t come to my house.’ And two other little girls in the room nodded and said Santa didn’t come to their house either,” explained Laura. At that time, Operation Santa began.
The group went out and purchased gifts, wrapped them in blue paper for boys and red paper for girls, and sorted them by age into huge boxes. These boxes are put in a wagon drawn by Louie and Lone Star, a team of Percheron horses, and led around the area. Each year the Operation Santa group picks a different school district to spread the wonderful joy of Christmas.
“We knew we had to make some noise to get people out on Christmas morning,” explained Laura, the organizer of Operation Santa. “So, we asked the Great Falls Fire Rescue to go with us, lead us, and make a lot of noise so people would come out and find out what’s going on.”
The first year they went around the Longfellow area, the second year they went around the Whittier area, the third year they went around Sunnyside, the 4th year they went around the Morningside area and this year, they went around part of the West Elementary area.
This year the group was joined by approximately 200 volunteers. They identify the ages of children living in the home and then select gifts from the horse-drawn wagon to give to the kids. Two truck trailers, loaded with presents for boys and girls of all ages, as well as chocolates and candies for adults, passed through the area. This large group including two Santas, took off walking up and down the street led by Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department this year.
This amazing group not only handed out toys to so many children but also handed out boxed candy to the older folks that come out that don’t have kids and 4200 candy canes. “We started around 10 am, and delivered gifts until 12:30,” explained Laura. “Then we stopped so that people could go home and celebrate the holiday with their own family.”
Operation Santa grows more each year in the hopes of making everyone’s Christmas a little brighter. Thank you to everyone who helped bring joy to so many this Christmas.
Author: Karen Anderson
Karen is the Editor-in-Chief overseeing all news operations at Foxys Publishing Co. She also loves photography and spending time with her dogs.
