Santa, Rudolph make annual visit to Niles for day of ‘holiday magic’

NILES, Mich. (WNDU) - They started giving away tickets at the start of the month, and Saturday was the payoff.

The Niles District Library and Niles History Center hosted their annual “Holiday Magic” event.

Of course, Santa was there. He always is.

And yes, Rudolph was there, too.

But here’s the thing — Rudolph is under the stewardship of the history center. The library, meantime, takes charge of Santa. So, it made perfect sense for the library and history center to team up for this holiday kickoff!

“We’re neighbors, and we do a lot of programming together,” explained Christina Arseneau, the executive director of the Niles History Center. “We just started talking one day that instead of doing separate holiday events, let’s make one big one for the community for the community here. And so, with us having Rudolph and them having Santa already, it just made it natural for us to combine it.”

Arseneau went on to say “Holiday Magic” brings a collective smile to everyone’s face, including those working the event.

You really can’t mess up when you have real, live reindeer juxtaposed with the jolly old elf.

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