DeKALB – Hundreds of people came out Thursday night to see Santa Claus come into town.
As the DeKalb police and fire departments escorted Santa’s holiday-decorated truck down Second Street, parents pointed to the truck and said, “There he is!” and “There’s Santa!” to their children.
For the past 10 years, the city of DeKalb has hosted “Santa Comes to Town,” a free event in which families can enjoy cookies, hot chocolate and Christmas caroling in the Egyptian Theatre, said Lindsey Engelsman, Re:New DeKalb’s marketing and special events coordinator.
Lisa Williams said this year’s event was her first. Her husband, Keith, and their three sons and one daughter were along.
Lisa Williams said she saw the event posted on a flier, and noticed that it was also the same day as her son Mason’s seventh birthday.
“We wanted to do something special for it,” she said.
When asked whether they had been good this year, each of the Williams boys said yes. Caleb said he had been staying good by listening to his parents, while Mason said he was helping others. Their youngest brother, Jaxon, initially shrugged before saying, “Be nice to each other.”
Stella Brown also came out to see Santa with her brother Hendrix, her friend Milah, and her mother and grandmother.
“I cleaned my room,” Stella said, stating how good she had been. “I cleaned up the house, I said please and thank you.”
Stella said she was hoping for a stuffed animal from Santa – either Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman will do.
The Egyptian Theatre opened the doors to the public at 6 p.m. Shortly thereafter, madrigal singers – choir students who dress up like aristocrats from the Middle Ages – from DeKalb High School arrived and began singing to the crowd of more than 300 people.
Briana Williams said that she used to be in DHS Madrigals. She said she didn’t try out this year.
“Seeing them perform, I do want to be back in it,” she said. “It brings back memories because they’re like one big happy family.”
Maddi Green and her great-grandmother, Eva Davenport, also came out for the madrigals’ performance as a sign of support to Green’s sister Hana, who was the assistant director for the group.
Lisa Williams said that she loves how the holidays bring families together.
“I love all of the special crafts, programs we do like Elf on the Shelf,” she said. “We love to do crafts. We like to do a lot of that stuff at home, too.”
