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Santa Calls back for another year in Painesville

While Santa Claus may not be coming to town to ask kids for the items on the Christmas wish lists, children in Painesville can have a chat over the phone with him this month.

Painesville Recreation has set aside four days — Dec 6, 8, 13 and 15, between 6 and 8 p.m. — for parents to register their children to talk to Santa this year. Parents have through Dec. 1 to register their children to receive a phone call from Santa this year.

The community event is for kids ages 3 to 10 in the city of Painesville.

“It’s a fun way for the children to get children in the Christmas spirit this holiday season,” Said Kevin Cindric, Painesville’s recreation supervisor. “It helps bring that Christmas spirit in a safe manner for the kids to enjoy this year.”

Cindric says that after holding the Santa Calls last year due to the pandemic, it was an easy decision to bring it back again.

“After we did the Santa Calls last year, we decided early on that even if COVID wasn’t an issue, we’d run it again this year,” he said. “COVID is still an issue, though, but this way we’re still providing something for the kids in the community after their parents signed them up.

“It’s a great program, and we had a lot of success with it,” he said. “We really hope it’ll brighten the holidays for a lot of people, and we think it’s something we can keep doing moving forward.”