It’s a tradition that the Portage Lakes Kiwanis Club has held onto for 67 years.
"We deliver somewhere between 3,000 and 3,300 [gifts] on Christmas Eve," said longtime club member Alfred J. Grzeschik
This year marked the 67th annual Santa Delivery in Portage Lakes. More than a dozen Santas took to their sleighs with more than 150 volunteers joining 15 routes to deliver handpicked gifts to kids.
"When you see a kid, that’s getting a gift and he just sees Santa, and all of a sudden he says ‘there is Santa,’ that’s huge," said Grzeschik. "And you get one of the older ladies that was one of the first routes 60 some years ago. It’s huge."
A small group started the tradition in 1951, but it has since grown to 15 sleighs and teams delivering gifts around Coventry Township and New Franklin.
More information on the event can be found here.