Hugs and wishes for Forreston kids during Christmas in the Country

FORRESTON — Hugs were plentiful in Forreston when Santa Claus stopped by to visit.

About 100 children got to visit with Santa and share their wish lists with him during the village’s Christmas in the Country celebration Dec. 3-4. Santa met kids in Memorial Park on the evening of Dec. 3, and visited the library the next morning.

Mackenzie Thiel, 7, asked him for a toy puppy, and Addy Heslop, 7, asked for new American Girl doll stuff. Mackenzie’s little sister, 5-year-old Emmerson Thiel, took her Christmas wish a step further.

“I want a new puppy that’s real,” Emmerson said.

Julie Heeren, a Christmas in the Country committee member who oversaw Santa’s visit this year, said she adored watching him with the children.

“I think our Santa is amazing,” Heeren said. “We’re just so blessed to have him. He does a wonderful job with the children, gives them great big hugs.

“The compassion and the love that Santa gives the children, they really that this time of year,” she added. “I don’t know how to put it into words.”

Heeren said that, next year, she’d like to have some music going during visits with Santa and ideally throughout downtown Forreston.

Santa arrived at Memorial Park on a Forreston Fire Protect District fire truck as part of the lighted parade — a new event this year for Christmas in the County.

The parade went really well for a first time, committee member Jane Koeller said. There were a variety of entries — vehicles, but also people walking, with wagons and horses, she said.

“I know a lot of the villages have something much bigger, but I was really happy with how it all came together,” Koeller said.