Santa Claus is coming to town!

Santa Claus is coming to town!  He’ll be on main street Saturday morning bringing cheer and a “Ho, Ho, Ho” to you.  You won’t miss him.  He’ll be on a hay rack right in front of Titonka Savings Bank handing out candy canes and, if you’re lucky and know him under his disguise, you might even get a smile and a wink.
 
Cold or warm, sunny or cloudy, snowy or rainy, Santa never missed his appointed time.  He was the town featured guest as local retailers kicked off Christmas in small town Iowa.
 
On the hay rack with Santa, were local businesses promoting their stores with drawings for prizes.  Every retailer had a box and people had been dropping in their names for weeks, all hoping to hit it big with a free turkey or ham.
 
In high school, I worked for one of those retailers.  It was my lucky day when the boss said to me, “I want you up on the hay rack to help me with the drawing.”  I had made the big time!  Instead of looking up at Santa, I was looking him eye to eye.
 
My boss had the microphone and after hawking his store, he handed me the box of names we had been gathering.  “Allan, draw out a name so I can give away this turkey!”  I dutifully reached in, fumbled around, and pulled out a name.
  
Immediately, I recognized the woman’s name I had drawn.  Every time she was in the store we had to keep an eye on her.  She would always stuff her pockets with everything from candy bars to cranberries.
 
As soon as the boss saw the name, he announced, “Oh my, someone put in a blank piece of paper.”  Everyone on the street laughed, my boss crumpled up the piece of paper with the shop-lifter’s name on it, put it in his pocket, and said, “Allan, draw another name.”
 
I learned a lot about life that moment as the boss smiled and winked at me.
 
Hope you have a smile on your heart!
Pastor Allan
© 2019 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved