Bio: Drier, Ruth - Holiday Recollections (1981)

Contact: Kathleen E. Englebretson
Email: kathy@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Drier

---Source: Marshfield News-Herald (10 December 1981)

My most favorite Christmas recollection is the year that I played the most important character at Christmas time. Although we all know and realize that Christmas is the birthday of our Lord Jesus and that is the reason for it all, the fact till remains that everyone gets fun out of the real and imaginative Santa Claus.

Well. this particular Christmas that I remember so well will always stay with me. It is hard to explain or realize the joy in being Santa to any child, especially for my 3-year-old grandchild.

At first I was hesitant to take the part, but after much deliberation I decked out in the old reliable suit which had served many a Christmas Eve at our house for many of our grandchildren and our children before them.

The look on her face as I entered the porch with a huge bag of goodies was worth much more than the effort it took to get me convinced to do it. Her eyes were as bright as diamonds. It was a look of surprise and one of relief that Santa had finally come.

She grabbed that big bag of toys and literally dropped into the kitchen. When I got enough courage to talk, she said, "It's Grandma." Well, we completely ignored that remark.

When I got inside and around the tree, I was the center of attraction with cameras flashing all over the place. I truly enjoyed myself, and I feel I was the one that benefited most by it all.

Ruth Drier and her husband live on Route 1 Colby. She is a housewife and the mother of seven children. She also has 20 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.