Squeals of excitement filled the streets of Naperville Saturday night as Santa drove past hundreds of homes on a Christmas-themed flatbed truck, giving kids a chance to see Kris Kringle while organizers raise a little money for charity at the same time.
“It’s the highlight of the year. They’re super excited,” said Jason Beevis of his children, ages 8 and 10, who gathered with a large group of neighbors and friends to wave to Santa as he cruised past houses on Hyde Park Lane. “It’s a great community thing. It gets everybody out meeting others in the neighborhood. Adults like it as much as the kids.”
Santa’s nightly 5 to 7 p.m. rides began Nov. 27 and will end Thursday, Dec. 9, visiting a different part of town each night. They’ll cover 360 miles of residential streets in total by the end, said organizer Matt Doyle, who posts info on each night’s trek on his www.tdhsanta.com/santa website.
“We were surprised. The neighbors told us 15 minutes ago,” Karolina Telin said just after Santa rode down University Drive shouting, “Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas,” and waving to her 7-year-old daughter, Stella, who attends Meadow Glens Elementary School.
“I loved it,” Stella said. “I really like Christmas. I get presents. I really like presents. I really want to get a lot of Robux,” referring to the virtual currency used to buy avatar accessories and upgrades for the Roblox online game platform and game creation system.
Stella said she was walking around her neighborhood for about an hour with her parents, “searching around, and I heard the beeps. I was surprised. I was running.”
Doyle said his sister came up with the idea last year “on a whim” because children were unable to see Santa at any of the malls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, He put her concept into action.
“I brought Santa to the streets. People had a chance to see Santa. We stepped up,” said Doyle, branch manager of CrossCountry Mortgage, who mapped out Santa’s routes and created a website to share them.
“It’s a lot of work for one night. I said, Let’s do 12 nights. If we were going to do it for 12 nights,” then we wanted to make it a fundraiser for nonprofits, said Doyle, who dubbed the effort #TDHSanta for Team Doyle Hulsey, the name of his Naperville mortgage branch.
The TDHSanta website lists details for each night, including a link to a donation page for the nonprofit benefitting on each date, a list of the neighborhoods, a route map, directions and the local “celebrity” driving the vehicle pulling Doyle’s flatbed trailer on which Santa rides. There’s also an app that can be downloaded.
(This year there will be a surprise 13 night, but no details yet on the website.)
Hired drivers man a navigational vehicle that leads the way for the flatbed truck as well as the vehicles behind it, which capture pictures and videos as the horns blare almost continuously to alert neighbors they’re coming. On Saturday night, many people came out of their houses with a confused look that turned to a smile as they saw Santa swinging his large candy cane and heard the holiday tunes coming from the Christmas float, which travels about 5 to 10 mph.
“So much joy on all these people’s faces, even the adults, and the kids jumping up and down,” said John Risvold, Saturday’s celebrity driver and an attorney with Collins Law Firm in Naperville. He was accompanied by his wife, Kaylin, and their 6-year-old daughter, Caroline.
“The first group I saw I got teary eyed,” said Kaylin Risvold, president/CEO of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. “It doesn’t matter what you believe. To see Santa fills your heart. It was special being in our neighborhood. Once we were in our neighborhood, (Caroline) felt like the belle of the ball. She thought, ‘That’s so cool.'”
Some kids looked through windows and others ran from one corner to another so they could catch a second glimpse of Santa as he passed, Kaylin Risvold said.
This year there will be a surprise extra night, on Thursday, Dec. 9, with Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico serving as the celebrity driver.
“The mayor will drive on the 13th night with his grandkids. We’ll start at the Naperville Country Club and go downtown and finish at Patel Brothers (grocery store on Ogden Avenue),” said Doyle, father of two girls, ages 6 and 17.
Last year, #TDHSanta raised $8,000 for local charities.
“I pick the nonprofits,” Doyle said. “There’s one per night. Each night I start with a $250 donation.”
The charities include Little Friends, DuPage Children’s Museum, The Alive Center, NCTV17, 360 Youth Services, Career & Networking Center, Naperville 203 Education Foundation, DuPage Pads, Indian Prairie Educational Foundation, Kids Matter, Cal’s Angels, and Loaves and Fishes Community Services.
That’s one of the best parts, John Risvold said. “It’s not about any of us. You’re raising money for charity,” he said.
Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
