DAPHNE, Ala. — Greg Tate, 5, received one of the largest presents at the party. When he opened it, he found a red toy fire truck with a yellow fireman’s hat on top.

“He ran up there,” Lynne Williams, his mother, said. “He couldn’t carry it back. We had to help him carry it.”

Williams said the fire truck was one of the biggest presents Tate ever received for Christmas.

But maybe the party — presented by the Daphne Optimist Club to help spread holiday cheer to 91 kids from local agencies — was the biggest present of all.

Santa’s surprise

“Let’s try one more time so Santa Claus can hear us,” Ray Farnell said, right before reading the classic holiday story “The Night Before Christmas.”

Kids at the Daphne Optimists’ Kids Christmas party let out a resounding, “Merry Christmas,” in hopes that Santa would indeed hear their hopeful voices.

They weren’t disappointed.

Santa Claus rolled into Daphne United Methodist’s Community Life Center, telling Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer to sit tight because he thought he heard a party inside and wanted to investigate.

He then stepped through the doors and graced the children with his presence, a mere three days before the big night when he travels the globe in his sleigh, delivering the presents to children across the world.

The first party, hosted by the Optimist Club, was filled with food, drinks, cookies, Christmas carols and stories, but something seemed odd about the red curtains blocking the back part of the stage.

None of the kids in attendance had any idea about what would happen next.

When Santa looked around to see if there were any presents, the curtains revealed a big stash of them — one for each of the invited kids.

Club member Ben Spencer said the group invited 91 underprivileged kids from Ecumenical Ministries, Family Promise, Saving Grace, Community Action and Habitat for Humanity, and none of them were supposed to know they would receive a present at the party. Spencer said that members of the club or community would draw one of the kids’ names and buy a present, which was targeted to be around a $25 purchase.

Toys and cheer

“Oh my goodness; it’s all they talked about all day long,” Debra Merritt said about her adopted children Kaleb, 5, Merritt, 3, and Karl, 4. “Karl got off the bus and asked, ‘Is it time to go to the party yet?’ It was about three o’ clock (three hours before the event).”

Debra said this was the trio’s first true Christmas experience.

“This is their first Christmas to where they can really see what it’s like to have Christmas,” she said.

Another of the invited guests didn’t want to come at first, but he was glad once he entered the festivities.

“We forgot about it, but when we were cleaning the room, we found the invite and I said (to Kary Thomas Jr., 3), ‘We’re going to a Christmas party,’ and he said, ‘I don’t want to go,’” Kary Thomas Sr. said about his son. But with a frosting-covered cookie about to be engulfed by the child’s mouth, Dad confirmed that his son was happy to be here.

When Santa’s helpers read the kids’ names, the recipients charged to the stage to receive their wrapped present. Some received Barbie dolls while others received toy trucks or cars.

“Thank you for my present, and I hope I get another one next year,” Daniel Taylor, 10, said to Santa while holding his new toy truck.

His sister, Elizabeth Hall, 3, opened her new doll and then said the words many more children will be saying on Christmas morning:

“Thank you, Santa Claus.”

(Staff video by Devin R. Golden; edited by Thomas Boni)

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