By JOHN ANDERSON, photo gallery at end
Santa Claus and his wife, Mrs. Claus, want to start a tradition of giving in Wellsville.
Santa was visiting Alfred State College and a few employees said they were borderline on his naughty or nice list, so he invited them to take part in the first-ever Santa and Mrs. Claus 1K run.
The catch is, you have to bring as many quarters as you can carry. The walk starts slow, but you lose quarter weight along the way. During December in Wellsville, there are no parking meter fines. However, all the parking meter donations go to a good cause.
This year, the donations go to the Hart Comfort House (you will want to read more on them HERE).
Despite his intense toy obligations on deadline, Santa took five minutes to talk to the Sun about his 1K, which is less than a mile.
“A lot of our friends at Alfred State College were questionable, so I gave them one last shot to make the good list and they did!” Santa reported. “It was an invitation only with six other couples including Mrs. Claus and myself. We wanted to try it like this the first year then open it up. But all had a connection to Alfred State.”
Santa was attempting to finish with a personal best, but Main Street in Wellsville got the best of him.
“We had had a report that some of the folks at Pizza King were not sure if they were on the good list or bad list so I had to check on them,” Santa said. “They checked out just fine and earned candy canes.”
The 1K was like a marathon in one regard. They were able to get hydrated on the run.
“We saw a little tiny one, almost elf-like, at the Book Cellars. We knew this one was on the good side, but we checked on their little one anyway,” Santa said. “Then the participants of the 1K were informed that not only were patrons enjoying light snacks, a visit and books, that the location served wine. So like anyone would on a 5K, they stopped to take advantage of that.”
Santa then went to the Beef Haus.
“At the Beef Haus everyone was good, employees and customers,” Santa said. “They have a contest but I couldn’t find Haus the Dog (the Beef Haus version of Elf on a Shelf).”
The 1K ended with an informal awards cereony.
“We went and checked on our good friends at the American Legion, it was a perfect place to finish,” Santa said. “We were pleased to donate to the Hart House and it was a great way to do it. We will donate to whoever the village choses each year to have the parking meter money go to.”
Some media outlets criticized Santa and Mrs. Claus for not running a full 5K, as the 1K took 30 minutes to finish.
Santa spoke out publicly for the first time today on that accusation.
“Mrs. Claus and I like to eat cookies too much to do a 5K,” Santa said.
Photo gallery:














