BETTER THAN HEARSAY - Christmas Eyes

The only thing missing was the “yt” when Santa Claus said “Ho, Ho, Ho” on a recent visit to a fundraiser for local food pantries at Five Furlongs in the valley town of East Durham. Joining the red-suited traveller was 6-year old Emmelia Mormile and (standing, left to right) Dan Padgett, Reggie Normandin, Danielle McIntosh and Melissa Penate.

WINDHAM - There is something warming about what Emmelia Mormile is wanting for Christmas, and something oddly familiar about the merry ol’ soul to whom her wishes have been delivered.

Santa Claus stopped by a fundraising event at Five Furlongs pub in the valley town of East Durham, last Sunday, greeting children while experiencing something unexpectedly magical himself.

It was actually one of Santa’s helpers who was dropped off at Furlongs in a fire engine by the chief of the local fire department, after sleighing to East Durham via the mountaintop town of Windham.

That helper shared a story that is as enchanting as any ever told and well worth retelling in the spirit of the holiday season and beyond.

The fundraiser was put together by Danielle McIntosh, a resident of the town of Durham and part of the Dani Dae Duo with Reggie Normandin.

Danielle and Reggie have been playing music together for fifteen years including monthly shows at the Tap House Grille in Windham.

They recently performed at a fundraiser for the food pantry in the town of Coxsackie, figuring it would be good to do the same for as many food pantries as possible throughout Greene County.

So they launched “Music With a Mission,” being accompanied last weekend by Dan Padgett from Tech Valley VA who showed the film “The 12 Dog Days of Christmas,” and they recruited Santa’s helper. 

“Ho, Ho, Ho,” he said, leaving out the “yt” at the end, preferring to keep his secret identity secret, this being his first gig as Santa’s stand-in.

He’d been asked to don the legendary red suit so he stuffed it with stuffing, went to the firehouse and popped out from behind a fire truck.

“That’s when I ran into the munchkins,” Santa’s helper says. “They didn’t know I was there. The look in their eyes was phenomenal. 

“They were mesmerized and it struck me. They were seeing Santa Claus. It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever felt before and all I could think to myself was, ‘don’t make any of these kids cry,’”

Doing what Santa does, he listened to their Christmas dreaming and posed for photographs and after they’d let him know their heart’s desire, he hopped on the fire truck and hitched a ride to Furlongs.

More kids and adults were there. The adults took part in a raffle with the dollars going to the food pantries. Furlong’s owner, Garrett Doyle, contributed the space and money raised from the brunch.

Toward the end of the Helper’s visit, 6-year-old Emmelia Mormile came in from nearby Potter Hollow with her mother.

In moments, she wore that same hypnotized gaze on her face. She and her mom settled in for a bite to eat before being bothered by a newsman for a photo with Santa, and the little girl obliged, transfixed..

Emmelia’s mama said the writing on her daughter’s letter to Santa Claus was too scrawled to read so she was pleased he came in person.

“What do you want for Christmas?” Emmelia was asked. She thought for a quick second and answered, “ a clock that wakes me up.”

“A what?”

“An alarm clock,” Emmelia’s mom explained. “I always get her up in the morning but she wants to get herself up.”

Emmelia smiled, growing up before her mother’s eyes, even while allowing her own innocent eyes to drift again to Saint Nicholas, and in that instant, nobody could convince her he was anyone different.