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Annual Breakfast at the VFW a fun
time for Santa
[December 22, 2025]
Saturday morning, Santa Claus
made his annual trip to the Cronin Brothers VFW Freedom Hall in
Lincoln a week late. The visit had originally been scheduled for
Saturday, December 13th, but because of the cold weather and
impending snow, it was decided that the event would be rescheduled
for Saturday the 20th.
The change in date and the fact that the countdown to Christmas is
on its home stretch for shoppers may have contributed to the lower
than usual turnout for the event.
Nonetheless, the Lincoln Marine Corps League and the VFW Auxiliary
had mountains of food prepared along with plenty of candy and
coloring pages for the anxious families who did turn out.
For Santa, it made little difference how many children were present.
As the master of giving good gifts, Saint Nick feels that it makes
no difference if he is going to see one child or 100, the
opportunity to spend time with precious little ones brings him great
joy and is well worth the effort.
What was fun about this year’s
event, made possible because perhaps there were smaller numbers, was
the fact that Santa had more than enough time to cuddle the kids and
extract from them their Christmas list. For some of the children, it
was very helpful as he provided them with suggestions of items he
might include in his magic gift bag.
Another fun part about having more time is that Santa had the great
pleasure of surprising the children by sharing just how well he knew
their parents and grandparents. Indeed, kids were reminded that at
one point in time, their grown-up parents were little tykes
themselves, climbing on Santa’s lap and whispering their wishes in
his ear.
This year Santa was flying solo, without Mrs. Claus by his side. He
explained that while she loved to come and see the children, on this
day it was just not possible. He further explained that while he is
the one who gets all the attention at Christmas time, Mrs. Claus is
the brains and the backbone of the entire operation. With just a few
days left before Santa takes his Christmas Eve flight, there is
still so much that needs to be done that Mrs. Claus just could not
afford to leave the elves in charge of the North Pole.
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But Santa still had plenty of help
entertaining the children, as USMC Maverick the canine wonder was on
hand in his “dress blues.” Maverick is a specifically trained
comfort dog, who specializes in making people of all ages happy with
his gentle attitude and plenty of tail wags for everyone he sees.
His owner/handler Gene Hickey and Maverick make regular visits to
area nursing and retirement homes to visit with local veterans. They
also make appearances at pediatric wards of area hospitals to bring
happiness to sick children. Hickey noted that in this week before
Christmas, he and Maverick were going to be visiting the Ronald
McDonald House in Springfield where they would enjoy visiting with
children and their families for a while.
All in all, though the turnout may have been less than hoped for,
the Saturday evening at the VFW was considered a success by the
Marine Corps League and VFW Auxiliary. Janet Long with the auxiliary
said that they tend to see high and low number years all the time,
and it makes no difference. If one family is able to come and enjoy
a hardy breakfast and a special one on one time with Santa, it is
well worth the effort.
[Nila Smith]
Santa visits the VFW - Slideshow
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