vSANTA continued from page 11
“He has visited every grandchild until they are old enough to
recognize his voice,” Terri Thunker said. “Then he visits their yard and
waves at them through the window.”
Over the years, as the children grew up, the Thunkers have
expanded their Santa Claus visits to schools, charitable organizations,
nursing homes and a limited list of family, friends and neighbors.
“I’ve done it where my mom’s at, at Autumn Winds,” Thunker said.
“Basically all I do is sing some songs, get some cheer coming out of
them old people. They have fun with that; it just brings them back to
life. They like to dance and we’ll get a little dance with them, have some
cookies and play with them, have some fun with it, too,”
By playing Santa, Dale has found that sometimes Santa can bring
cheer when no one else can.
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“My first cousin’s wife was killed in an accident,” Dale said. “She was
running — it’s been 20 years — she was out jogging and someone ran
into her and killed her, and she left my first cousin with six children.”
“It was in the fall, right before the holidays.” Terri Thunker added.
Some of the children were older; the youngest was not yet two years
old.
Terri Thunker, or “Mrs. Santa” as she calls herself when she is
helping Santa make his rounds, drives the car, drops Santa off and
waits, out of site, while he goes and visits. On the walk from the car,
Thunker said, he was confronted by the fact that he wasn’t sure what to
say to these children who had just lost their mother.
“I went in, and I remember the daddy holding the baby, and I said,
‘You know what, I was just coming down in the sleigh, coming down
to see you guys, and your mom was with me, and she helps me get
things ready for all the kids.”
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12vHISVOICEvNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018