My City December 2022

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, with twinkling lights and decorated Christmas trees. But most importantly – Santa Claus has come to town! Experience!

SANTA’S FARM GRAND BLANC

BY CHERYL DENNISON

At Santa’s Farm in Grand Blanc, Dan and Kerrie Hajek will be making holiday memories again this year by offering personal interviews with The Big Man himself ! The Hajeks started Santa’s Farm in 2018 to provide magical and memorable experiences with Santa and Mrs. Claus. According to Kerrie, their daughter Tara and their five grandsons had taken a trip to the mall to see Santa. It was an ex hausting excursion as they had to stand in line for almost two hours to see the jolly old man for just a moment. On the way home, Tara stopped by to visit her parents and told Dan, “Dad, you have to be Santa!” Kerrie was on board with the idea. “My husband has always been Santa ever since our kids were little,” she shares, “so it was natural for him to step into that role.” On their ten-acre property, the couple converted a grain bin into a festive meeting place complete with a Christmas tree, a fireplace and of course, Santa’s chair. Kids could sit on

Santa’s lap for 20 minutes to share their Christmas lists and parents could take photos. Elves would escort them to the large, decorated pole barn that housed Santa’s sleigh and a play area where kids could have fun with old-fashioned toys, drink hot chocolate and eat popcorn. “The yard was decorated and lit up like Franken muth!” Kerrie exclaims.The first year, 150 families visited and nearly 350 kids. “Then, COVID hit,” she adds “and we could no longer offer private visits with Santa.”

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