Benny Preston, the official Santa Claus at the 18th annual Winter Fantasy, feels extra pressure this year to keep the spirit of Jolly Old St. Nicholas alive and well. After recently learning the tragic story of a fellow Santa in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Preston is reaching out to his Santa colleagues across the nation to help support a struggling family that not only lost their very own Santa, but a family member as well.
11-year-old Margie Edwards lost her stepfather, Bobby Reed, in August in a tragic shooing during a family dispute, and without knowing it, young Edwards lost her annual visit from Santa, too. As Santa, Reed worked a very busy holiday season taking time out each year to make sure he visited his stepdaughter, the only one left of her friends who still believed in Santa.
This year, the Reed family is experiencing a very different holiday season. Widowed wife and mother Marge Reed is devastated by the loss of her husband, and making it worse, she and her daughter are left with an immense amount of debt as a result of Santa Reed’s death.
