A Poland man works to make Christmas special for children

in his town.
By Kathryn Skelton
Staff Writer

POLAND – Nine days before Christmas, the phone was ringing every few minutes, each caller worried about a boy or girl who wouldn’t be getting much under the tree.

Sue Foster listened to the stories and most times, she added a name or two to the list in her kitchen.

Sue says that when she was little, she usually got what she asked for. But her husband, Larry, remembers that he didn’t.

That’s probably the easiest explanation for the multitude of lights in his yard, a 3-foot dancing Santa beside the television, a sleigh with its own sound system behind the house and standing plans on Christmas Eve with a local St. Nick.

Foster, president of Santa Comes to Poland, said the club started 16 years ago, inspired by a similar program in nearby New Gloucester. A mechanic at the time, he and several friends built a sleigh at the former Ward’s Garage on a 1972 Chevy pickup frame.

The first year, the aim was simple: 25 parents dropped off gifts for their children at a local store, in secret, and on Christmas Eve, Santa delivered them to the surprised youngsters.

The next year, it grew to include donated gifts. Foster said they get kids’ names from school, churches and the town. Parents are phoned and asked for particulars, such as ages and what their children might like. Gifts are kept in the $10 range and, on Christmas Eve, when Santa calls out each child’s name and gives each gift, there’s no way for the children to know whose parents brought gifts and whose presents were donated.

They all come from Santa, and besides, lots of children believe he’s the real deal.

“They’re amazed at the fact Santa knows their name,” Foster said.

Frank Strout Sr. plays the the big man, a role he says he fills well, being 5 feet 6 inches and “pretty fairly round.”

He’s heard all sorts of requests. “When Desert Storm was going on, I had kids ask me if I could get their fathers home,” he said. “I guess they figure Santa Claus is magic and he can do just about anything.”

His favorite was giving a Tickle Me Elmo to a girl who desperately wanted one the year the little red doll was so popular. That was about five years ago, and she’s still toting it around. “Oh, I still see her. She still doesn’t know that I’m Santa Claus,” Strout said.

‘A baby for Christmas’

The club, which has nonprofit status, raises money during the year with Santa and sleigh visits to local campgrounds, by hosting dinners and with its annual holiday fair. Foster said they try to give gifts to 300 children a year, limiting it to kids 12 and under from Poland.

In addition to the Christmas Eve run, the club has made it a tradition to deliver fruit baskets the Saturday before Christmas to the elderly and other people who don’t get out much, 27 homes this year.

For the first time Santa Comes to Poland is working with Poland Community Church, using its space for the wrapping, tagging and stuffing of stockings, activities that had been limited to the Fosters’ mobile home.

Santa will begin his ride this year at the East Poland Post Office, then will hit The Village Kitchen variety store, Tom and Sheena’s Variety in West Poland and finally the Poland Corner Store. The evening starts at 4:15 p.m. and wraps up around 9.

Foster, 60, grew up on Lincoln Street in Lewiston with 14 brothers and sisters. The kids all got presents from the Salvation Army. The favorite gifts he remembers: one year a scooter; another year, a red wagon.

“I can remember as a kid having to wait until the tree lots closed on Christmas Eve to get a tree,” he said. By then, it was free. They decorated it with whatever they could find around the house. “We’d even as much as tie old shoes to the tree.” But, “no lights, we didn’t have no lights, we made the best of it.”

Today, his home glistens with decorations and a tree in the living room glows and fades with different colored fiber-optic lights. “He’s a baby for Christmas,” said his wife, Sue.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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