Kids at St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Sugar Grove talked holiday wishes with Santa and Mrs. Claus Saturday, Dec. 13.
In a fifth annual visit to the church, Paul Eggert and wife Giuli of Aurora portrayed the jolly old elf and Mrs. Claus during an annual Cookies and Cocoa celebration for families. The church Knights of Columbus unit and women’s ministry sponsored the event.
Paul Eggert, 75, has been playing Santa for 25 years. An Indiana Railroad retiree, he said that years ago the railroad offered a Santa train which would make two or three stops and let kids come on to see him. One of them left a lasting impression.
“There were a couple of kids that were kind of ornery and one kicked my shin and grabbed my beard – which, of course, was real – and my whole head turned,” Eggert recalled. “The mother looked at me very apologetically and her son whispered: ‘I think he’s the real Santa Claus.’”
Each yuletide season, the Eggerts take on their Santa lives, visiting schools, churches, businesses, retirement homes and other venues where they hear holiday wishes and hand out candy canes. Included was a recent Earlville High School fundraiser by sophomores for a senior class trip to Washington, D.C., in 2027.
Eggert told a reporter his Santa life began when his son was in Cub Scouts and the now fully-bearded Eggert was only sporting a mustache. “At Christmas, the Scouts would have me dress up as Santa and I had a Santa suit that also included a mask that had a beard,” he said.
—Al Benson