Santa and His Reindeer Bring the 'Magic of Christmas' to Peoples Bank, Dec. 8

It started as out as a marketing gimmick, but has now become a holiday tradition in Waukee. 

Santa Claus and his reindeer will be at Peoples Trust & Savings Bank on Dec. 8 for the sixth annual "Magic of Christmas" event.

In an interview last year, Nicole Grove-Fuller, assistant vice president of retail banking at Peoples, said she originally invited Santa and his real reindeer to drive traffic to the bank on University Avenue in Waukee.

"We wanted to do something to draw attention to the bank," Grove-Fuller said. "When I was growing up in Guthrie Center, my mom would always take us down to this little bank in my hometown to see Santa Claus. I thought, 'What better way to bring people in than to have Santa and his reindeer here?' So that's what we did."

For six years, Santa and Mrs. Claus and a real reindeer (a large antlered buck) have stopped by Peoples with their sleigh and a whole lot of holiday fun. There are cookies and hot chocolate and reindeer dust for the kids to take home.The kids get the chance to tell Santa what they want and parents have the chance to check out the bank.

"We have this really nice bank and it's hard to get people in to see it with the kind of traffic we get on University," Grove-Fuller said. "This gives us a chance to show people how nice and homey it feels here. It's also another way we can give back to the community."

Santa and his reindeer will be at Peoples on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to stop by to see St. Nick, grab a hot cocoa and a cookie and vote for their favorite artwork in the Peoples Trust & Savings Bank coloring contest.

Entries in the coloring contest are due by Friday, Dec. 7. If you have a little artist in your family (ages 0-11), print out the PDF attached to this article at right, color it in and drop it off. Your child could win a portable DVD player or Kids Club savings account.