Mardi Gras krewe brings Santa to Coast kids during COVID

If you saw Santa riding through town on a flatbed trailer over the weekend, don’t blame the eggnog.

Neighborhoods across the Mississippi Coast and the country have been coming up with creative alternatives to the traditional mall Santa in a year when it’s dangerous for kids to sit on Santa’s lap and share their Christmas wish list.

When Phil Dellenger realized many children wouldn’t be able to visit the jolly old elf himself, he and some friends in Biloxi’s Krewe of Neptune got together and came up with a plan.

If the kids couldn’t come to Santa, they’d bring St. Nick to the kids.

“We decided we wanted to go door-to-door, give them a one-on-one experience,” Dellenger said. “We just wanted to give them some normality this year.”

This isn’t the first time the krewe has shared smiles across the Coast during the holidays. Earlier this year, they brought the Easter bunny to greet boys and girls.

“We saw how much they enjoyed that,” he said. “We knew If the Easter Bunny was a hit that they would enjoy Santa Claus.”

Santa on the Coast

On Saturday morning, the group of friends met in Biloxi. They had a truck pulling a flatbed trailer with a large green chair surrounded by little gifts and Santa’s signature big red sack.

Friends in Neptune donated a sackful of toys, while other others donated money to ensure every child they saw left with something from Santa.

Helpers Bobby Hammond, Nick Garand and Ray Romero toted the “sleigh” across Biloxi and Ocean Springs, navigating each of Santa’s stops.

Before each home or street Kriss Kringle was set to visit, the krewe staged to get the “sleigh” ready. With the help of their head elf (Marques Thomas), helper elves (daughters Bailey Dellenger and Isabella Thomas) and even a reindeer (Robert Guentz), each stop kids were given small toys and candy while visiting for a few minutes with Santa.

Children ran from their houses to greet St. Nick, and parents watched and took pictures as their little ones opened gifts and smiled. Many of the parents said this was the only way they would get to see Santa.

“This is amazing. We’ve been outside playing waiting for them,” Clint Nugent said. He brought his daughter Olivia, 1, and son Aldon, 6. “They are going above and beyond. They really made the best of this COVID situation... It’s making this holiday season incredible.”

Jason Fairley, who lives in Biloxi, also brought his three babies to see Santa while the group was stopped In their neighborhood. He said that he was thankful for the group’s kind gesture that brought smile’s to their faces.

“It’s a wonderful thing. We really appreciate Santa coming out to see everyone,” Fairly said.

A special visit

The “sleigh” rolled from 10 a.m. to well past sunset Saturday, but there was one home where they wanted to be sure to spread cheer.

“This one is special,” Dellenger said.

Eight-year-old Ansley Gilich, Biloxi Mayor Andrew “Fo Fo” Gilich’s granddaughter, has been battling leukemia after being diagnosed in March.

The community has rallied around the Gilich family and participated in blood drives, a successful toy drive and has helped the family raise more than $25,000 toward the Ansley Foundation. The family started the foundation after Ansley’s diagnosis and donates to research and families with children with cancer.

She’s also classmates and friends with Bailey and Isabella. Santa made a very special trip for her and her brother, Andrew, carrying a sack of toys picked out especially by the two helper elves.

Dellenger sat on the floor of the Gilich’s home and spent some time giving gifts and sharing laughs.

“Ansley was over-the-moon excited,” she said. “She said it was they ‘best thing that’s ever happened to her.’ They talked about it for hours after Santa left.”

Gilich said that Ansley wasn’t able to see Santa this year due to the pandemic, so a surprise visit from the elf himself was a big hit.

“This shows that there’s still good in this word,” Gilich said. “People really do care about other people and what they’re going though.”

It’s those moments, Dellenger said, that make it all worthwhile.

“Seeing the looks on their faces, it means everything,” he said. “By the looks on their faces they, and their parents, loved it ... My daughter, who helped so much today, I saw how much it meant to her.”

“Whether it’s one or 100 kids, we were all honored to do it.”

Although this year brought challenges, it brought out a lot of good too. He said he hopes this inspires other to still make Christmas special.

“It’s OK to celebrate Christmas and bring something back to normal,” he said. “It’s been a weird year for everybody. Because of the year we just had, it was more incentive to do something like this.

“If it makes kids happy, we’ll do it again next year if we have to.”

This story was originally published December 25, 2020 at 5:50 AM.