For many, preparation for the Christmas season includes setting out figurines of Santa Claus, but one woman has taken that tradition to the extreme. In her lifetime, Wanda Emde has collected 1,659 Santa Claus figurines.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Emde believes her love for Santa Claus began when she was a child. She grew up during the Great Depression and said money was tight, but Santa Claus always came.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cHe was always my favorite person,\u201d Emde said. \u201cWe were poor so we really looked forward to Santa coming to visit us \u2026 All we got was a sock with an orange, apple and chocolate drop candy, but he came. He was dependable.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Emde\u2019s collection began with a personal piece made by her daughter Joy Jernigan in first grade.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201c(Joy) made me a Santa full of construction paper and cotton balls and I kept it,\u201d Emde said.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
From there, the collection cgrew.\u00a0 Jernigan, said Emde particularly loves Santa Claus because he is always smiling.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cSanta Claus is a lot like Mickey Mouse,\u201d Jernigan said. \u201cYou can\u2019t look at Mickey Mouse and not smile. I think that is what Santa does to people.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Emde\u2019s other daughter, Kathy Lawson, said she believes the collection was her mother\u2019s way of bringing people together.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cMy mom loved to open up her house,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cShe put up Santas everywhere, and people would come and visit. I think she loved when people visited almost as much as (she loved) the Santas. She wanted as many people to come as she could.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Until last year, Emde\u2019s entire collection was kept in her home. When she moved into Harding Place, she was unable to house all of her figurines. Emde wanted to keep the collection together, so she donated them to the Holiday of Lights organization in Searcy.<\/b><\/p>\n
Last year the collection was displayed as an art exhibit at the Historic Black House. This year the collection has found a more permanent home at the Carmichael Community Center.<\/b><\/p>\n
According to Lawson, there are 650 figurines at the Center with others spread throughout the community at banks and rest homes. Emde also donated her animated Santa Clauses to the Sunshine School.<\/b><\/p>\n
According to Sally Paine, a teacher at the Sunshine School, the animated Santa Clauses given to the school are displayed in the front lobby.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201c(Emde\u2019s daughters) picked 10 that they thought our students would really enjoy and brought them to us,\u201d Paine said. \u201cAnd our students have really enjoyed them.\u00a0 We don\u2019t let them play with them all at once, but we\u2019ll pull one out and watch it for a little while then put it back and choose an<\/b>other.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Paine said the Santa Clauses are especially beneficial to their nonverbal students.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cOur more typical students go \u2018ooh\u2019 and \u2018ah\u2019 and everything, but it\u2019s really fun to watch some of our more involved and nonverbal students because their faces light up. It\u2019s something they can immediately enjoy.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Emde\u2019s collection will be displayed through\u00a0 New Year\u2019s. After the holidays, it\u00a0 will be collected and stored by Main Street Searcy until next Christmas.<\/b><\/p>\n
Written by Dailey Thomas and Raianne Mason<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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