Delight as Santa comes to town
Youngsters and their parents were delighted to meet Father Christmas and receive a gift when Santa’s Christmas tractor swung in to the Strath capital.
Two well-known members of the Crieff community – Hannah Graham and Alexandra ‘Ally’ MacDonald – came up with the idea of holding the free, outdoor, event and Co-op staff helped Santa and his elves spread some Christmas cheer in the store’s car park.
Ally told the Herald: “We had the vision, but no provisions!
“We contacted Santa to ask if he would like to park up his tractor and trailer in the Crieff Co-op Town Green car park for a couple of afternoons just before Christmas and to say hello to the local children and families.”
Full of excitement when Santa accepted their invitation, Hannah and Ally got to work looking for donations towards the event.
Ally continued: “We were donated £240 by the Crieff Co-op’s manager, Gary Pugh, after applying to the Crieff Co-op Community Fund.
“This enabled us to buy new costumes for Santa’s elves and little helpers, and to give each child who visited Santa’s tractor a free selection box.
“Other local organisations were also very kind and donated towards the resources required, such as Remake and Nickle and Dime who supplied donations of Christmas
decorations, and John Gauld from the Crieff Christmas Lights committee, who also added a sparkle of light to the scene.”
Members of Crieff Round Table let Santa borrow their Santa suit and MAM Groundworks and one of Ally’s friends supplied traffic cones to enable a safe, sociallydistanced, queuing system.
Ally’s dad, Angus MacDonald, gave a welcome helping hand setting up the unusual grotto each day and Hannah’s dad, Stuart Graham, supplied the tractor.
Her mum, Jackie Graham, kept the pair topped-up with hot drinks and Christmas cake when they were both covered in tinsel, glitter and lights while decorating Santa’s tractor and trailer in a cow shed.
Around 250 children and their families visited Santa over the two afternoons.
Ally added: “Hannah and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in helping us spread the Christmas joy.
“You’d better watch out – as Santa and his tractor may come back to Crieff next year!”