When Santa Claus stops in Sarnia-Lambton on Christmas Eve, his reindeer will be able to stop for a snack in Bright's Grove and Sherwood Village before flying to other regions.
A couple of large, round hay bales from "Jimmy the Elf" were left outside of a couple of residences this year. The "Reindeer Feed Stations" were provided by Joe Dickenson, a farmer near Oil Springs.
Dickenson has provided hay bales for the feed stations for years and said the idea started as a prank when he was about 16 years old. His family left a large hay bale at his uncle's house but instead of picking it up on Christmas Day, his uncle was left with the heavy lifting.
"My mom comes from a large family and they're a pretty fun-loving group of people," said Dickenson. "Everybody kind of had a lot of fun with it so then we kind of expanded the idea from there."
Now, Dickenson said plans are made ahead of time and he contacts people to coordinate feed station locations with "Jimmy the Elf".
"We reach out to friends or family. Sometimes it's if we know that somebody has kind of had a rough year or something like that. [We] try to make it just a little more special for them at the end of the year," said Dickenson. "Every time we did it, especially the first couple of times we did it, you'd see how excited the kids were and that's what it's for."
Last year, about five or six feed stations were set up across the county.
"That made Christmas Eve a hectic night," laughed Dickenson.
Now that Reindeer Feed Stations have been set up, "Jimmy The Elf" and Dickenson can let go of the reins and hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
