CINCINNATI — A Northside woman is sharing her holiday spirit and love of Santa with others by hosting a weekly open house throughout December and displaying her more than 600 Santa decorations.
Tricia Wilson has become known as the Northside Santa Lady. She said her collection started with a gift from her aunt and has grown to hundreds of decorations over the last 30 years.
"It’s not even Christmas that I’m crazy about, it’s just Santa. Which sounds so weird when I say it out loud," Wilson said. "I mean, I like Christmas but I love Santa. To me he is just magic and joy."
Each Santa has a unique story, whether she got it at Goodwill, on a trip or received the figurine as a gift.
"This (Santa) appeared on my front porch with a note saying, 'My mom loves me, but my brother and dad don’t like me because they think my eyes follow them around the room. Can I please live here?'" Wilson said. "I mean, his eyes do feel like they follow you."
But that Santa gets a spot in the display just like all the others.
Wilson joked that when she runs out of space, she and her husband will just have to move. Her serious solution to that problem is to fill her kitchen pantry with Santa decorations.
She's not too worried about having space, though. Wilson even said she bought five more Santas just a few days earlier.
The neighbor kids are the ones who keep track of how many she has. Wilson said every year they do an official count.
Cyrus Weber is one of the kids who takes part in this and he said while that's one of his favorite parts of the Santa display, he also likes going to see the inflatables outside the house.
“Sometimes, I’ll go down dressed as a Santa and blend in with the ones in the front. So that’s pretty fun," he said.
Wilson hopes to continue to spread the magic and joy that she feels Santa represents.
“My goal is for this whole street to be Santa street," she said.
Her open houses are every Wednesday in December from 5:30-7 p.m. on Cherry Street in Northside.
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