Santa brings smiles at walk

There was a survivor’s dinner, games for children, a balloon launch and the lighting of luminaries. And Santa.
The jolly old elf, dressed in a pink suit instead of the traditional red, spent Saturday evening bringing smiles to the faces of young and old at Jay County Cancer Society’s Walk Against Cancer at Jay County High School.
James Holliger of Lynn is a regular at cancer-related events and has played Santa Claus since attending a Christmas party while he was in high school.
“The gentleman who was supposed to wear the suit was a sitting-in-the-bar drunk,” said Holliger. “I refused to give him the suit, and I have been wearing one ever since.”
The pink suit is just one of his 19, including one themed for each branch of the military, all of which he designed and created himself.
Holliger, a veteran of the Navy who served in Vietnam, has made a variety of charitable visits over the course of more than 40 years as Santa, including to hospitals and military bases. He became involved with cancer-related events about six years ago when he was asked to make a special hospice appearance.
“Usually it’s the older individuals,” Holliger said. “This time it turned out to be a 6-year-old little girl.”
A cancer patient, she was not expected to make it through the year, and her family wanted to have one final Christmas with her.
“Now, with God’s blessing, I’ve been able to go back six more times and have Christmas with her as a survivor,” said Holliger, who spends his days working as a maintenance man for Randolph Southern Schools.
Like so many, Holliger also has a family connection to cancer.
His soon-to-be wife Barbara — the former teenage sweethearts will get married Saturday after reconnecting at a class reunion a few years ago — has a daughter who is a two-year cancer survivor. Her aunt is a five-year survivor, and her mother is a 17-year survivor.
Another aunt was lost to cancer.
So Holliger wears his pink Santa suit, visiting a variety of cancer-related events in Indiana and Ohio.
He was on his way to an event in Allen County on Saturday when he saw signs for Jay County’s walk and decided to make a stop on the way back.
He strolled around the track at JCHS, fielding questions from children and spending time with those whose lives have been affected by cancer.
“It’s wonderful,” said Holliger. “To be able to sit and hug and talk and pray with some of the older survivors, that is the best. … I love kids, but some of the older survivors, when they see Santa, they’re kids again too.”[[In-content Ad]]