How Santa Got His Groove Back, More Holiday Stories To Make You Smile

A graduate of Santa school and card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Real-Bearded Santas, Ronald Fierro of Brick, New Jersey, loves his seasonal gig hearing children tick off their wish lists in malls, telling Patch it is a “privilege” to represent the spirit of Christmas.

Earlier this year, a blister on his foot turned into a painful ulcer that became so infected it turned his toes and heels back. Amputation was a real fear and “Santa Ron,” as he’s known, resigned himself to it.

It was not to be. A life-saving surgery saved his leg and Santa Ron got his groove back. “You’re really good at this,” he’s been told multiple times.

“I’m grateful to be back at work,” he told Patch as he recalled his life playing Santa while preparing for a day at Freehold Raceway Mall. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

• Read more in the full Patch Exclusive by Karen Wall: Santa Finds His Wish Granted With Life-Saving Surgery

This Deer Earned The Name Special

A deer whose antlers always grow back upside down after he sheds them in the annual rut has been a curiosity since the pandemic when people seeking fresh air encountered him during regular walks in St. Casimir Catholic Cemetery in Chicago.

Karen Medina, of Oak Lawn, and her young children, Natalie and Daniel, were among those charmed, not only because of the buck’s looks but also his curious behavior. It was as if the buck recognized Medina and others’ vehicles. He trotted on cue to take the apples, carrots and lettuce his human friends brought every day.

Folks call him by various names, including Marcus, the name on the headstone the buck was standing by when Medina first spotted him. To longtime gravedigger and groundskeeper Mike Nomenssen, he’s Special.

Special is the only deer among the 200 living at the park that he has ever named. And by all accounts, he’s earned it. When the odd-looking buck didn’t return to the cemetery this fall after the fall rut, his human friends assumed the circle of life had closed.

And then something happened that Nommensen describes as a “Christmas miracle.”

• Read the full Patch Exclusive by Lorraine Swanson: Cemetery Deer With Crooked Antler Sends A Message

When Daddy Comes Marching Home

It’s tough for military families when a parent is deployed, especially during the holidays. The teachers and staff at an elementary school in Tinley Park, Illinois, kept a huge secret from three of their students in the days leading up to the Thanksgiving break. Deployed for more than 300 days, Dad was coming home.

All kinds of ruses were deployed leading up to the big day — a sleepover for the kids with their grandparents to keep them from finding out what was up. When the first grade re-enacted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade after reading the children’s book “Balloons Over Broadway,” it was a plausible exercise and annual tradition.

Before they knew it, the kids’ dad, Chris Lockhart, a chief warrant officer with the Army National Guard, fell into step with the marching children.

“We hoped that it would turn out just the way it did. It was awesome. It was a humbling experience to be able to be a part of something so special for those kids,” Bannes Elementary Principal Kelly Folliard told Patch. “And they deserve it.”

• Read more in the full Patch Exclusive by Lauren Traut: Deployed 300 Days, Dad Surprises Kids In Holiday Homecoming

Artist’s Nativity Chosen For Vatican

For the second consecutive year, Bridgewater, New Jersey, artist R Michael Palan was tapped to have his hand-made intricate Nativity among 100 from around the world that will be displayed at the Vatican in Rome for the holidays.

Palan’s Nativity is based on the historic 19th-century Star Barn in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and will be on display from Sunday through the Epiphany on Jan. 6, 2025.

Palan and his wife, Karen Loccisano, have been crafting Nativities since 2011 in the basement of their Bridgewater home and have had their work showcased across the country including in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

• Read the full Patch Exclusive by Alexis Tarrazi: Artist’s Nativity Displayed At Vatican

A Happily Ever After Story

Jennifer Turpin, the oldest of the 13 siblings who in 2018 escaped from their parents after years of abuse and torture, recently announced her marriage after a one-year engagement, calling her husband “the love of my life.”

The couple is maintaining their privacy but shared photos of the uniquely themed nuptials on social media. The children remain close after they escaped the “House of Horrors” and say the bond between them is unbreakable.

Jennifer Turpin recently released a self-titled memoir, “Where Was God?” The book is a gripping testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of self-discovery.

• Read the full story by Ashley Ludwig: Jennifer Oldest Of Turpin Kids Finds ‘Happily Ever After’

A Puck Drop To Remember

It was a puck drop that the New Jersey Devils will always remember — as well as 12-year-old hockey superfan Theo Koshenkov. The Devils hosted their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night last week to raise funds for the Oncology Healing Room within the Cancer Center at Clara Maass Medical Center.

As part of the event, the Devils hosted Koshenkov and his family at the game. Koshenkov — an East Brunswick resident — was diagnosed with Lymphoma earlier this year. He is currently receiving treatment at the Rutgers Cancer Institute.

• Read the full story by Eric Kiefer: New Jersey Devils Put Smile On Young Hockey Superfa