Volunteer elves needed at Midland’s Santa House

MIDLAND, Mich. (WNEM) - The sleigh bells are ringing above mid-Michigan, Santa Claus is coming to town! He’s here for the big opening of Midland’s Santa House and to help officially kick off the holiday season in the city.

Midland’s Community Foundation is hosting special sensory-friendly nights for children to meet Santa, and they could use a few more elves to help him out.

“We’re super excited to welcome Santa back to town here in Midland and the Santa house will open tonight. Santa arrives about 6:30 and he will make his way to the Santa house and then we’ll be open until 9 tonight,” Sharon Mortensen, President/CEO at Midland Community Foundation said.

This year, Santa’s house is going the extra mile to make sure everyone has the best experience- with some special nights for those with special needs.

“The first three nights of the Santa House are sensory-friendly,” Mortensen said.

Parents can call ahead and let Santa know their child’s specific needs.

“If we should turn off the lights or stop the music, we’re very happy to do that. And we’re very excited to offer this and we find that there’s a great deal of interest in making sure that we’re accessible to all to have a great experience,” Mortensen said.

And to ensure a great experience, they are looking for a few more elves to help out this holiday season.

“We need elves to work both in the Santa House but where we need them most is with the Northern Star Train,” she said.

Families can come to visit Santa through Dec. 23 before he makes his way back to the North Pole in time for Christmas. The Midland Santa House is free for everyone to enjoy and it begins tomorrow night.

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