With Alvin and the Chipmunk’s "Christmas Song" playing at high volume Saturday, a group of kindergarteners and their brothers and sisters waited in line for Santa Claus, and chili dogs.

Monday, December 04, 2000

With Alvin and the Chipmunk’s "Christmas Song" playing at high volume Saturday, a group of kindergarteners and their brothers and sisters waited in line for Santa Claus, and chili dogs.

The West Ironton Parent and Teacher Association sponsored Lunch with Santa to raise funds for class supplies, payments on the elementary’s new playground equipment and student activities.

But the one thing that brought on the most smiles from the children was the fat man in red himself.

"Mommy, where are the reindeer?" kindergardener Maranda Lynn Porter asked her mother when she saw Santa.

After her mother assured her that Rudolph and the rest of the gang were up on the roof, Maranda was happy to ask Santa for a long list of items that included a bike, a basketball and new hoop, and new Pokemon cards.

Maranda wasn’t the only one interested in what she was getting for Christmas.

"I want a fire truck," Andrew Bruce, 3, told Santa. "And one for my baby sister, Holly, two fire trucks."

Andrew might have asked for a third fire truck for his older sister, Katie, but she had already seen Santa first.

Other children were more reluctant to visit with Santa. Five-year-old Tiffany Akers was one of them.

Shy at the idea of meeting the jolly old elf, Tiffany made her mother, Candy Gibbs, carry her up to see Santa. All the while, she fidgeted nervously with her mother’s vest, decorated in a Christmas cookie print.

Once she was put into Santa’s lap, however, the young Tiffany told him exactly what she wanted.

"I want a play house," she said. "I want one for in my house, not for outside."