My Visit With Santa on South Prospect

If you haven’t had a chance to chat with Santa this year, there’s still time. But the clock is ticking.

Simply drive down South Prospect until you reach 1409 between 6 and 8 p.m. nightly and stop by David K. Hilton’s house on the east side of the street. You really can’t miss it, it is highly decorated, with music playing, and lit up like, well, a Christmas tree.

I found Santa sitting in his homemade sleigh last week, jolly as ever, and waiting to greet all the little boys & girls who come to see him.

“I enjoy the kids, they come by every year,” Hilton said. And within a few minutes, they started showing up and marveling at all the Christmas displays on his front lawn and along his driveway. And of course many of them posed with Santa in his big red sleigh.

Hilton is a Sedalian who left the State Fair City to take care of his mother-in-law in St. Louis. He returned 10 years ago and began his “Santa Schtick” four years ago.

The volume of decorations in Hilton’s yard is astounding, and made me wonder where does he store all this stuff in the off-season?

“Oh, I’ve got a couple of storage units. And my garage is full,” Hilton noted, adding that he has everything set up & ready to go every year by Thanksgiving Eve.

There is no shortage of reindeer at Santa’s house. You cannot overlook the eight-and-a-half-foot-tall ones. And there are other, smaller ones in his display as well. “The kids love ‘em,” Santa said. We try to stay kid-oriented.”

Mrs. Claus was busy baking cookies at the time of my interview with Santa and was not available for comment.

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“I believe that Santa should not charge for pictures. Every kid deserves a chance. If you‘ve got a big family, they can’t afford to pay for pictures for every kid. Who you gonna leave out? This way I hope no kid is left out.” And that applies to kids of all ages, Santa said, adding that the ages of his “kids” he has posed with range from two months to 99 years.

Hilton used to work as a handyman around town, and his skills are evident in his annual homegrown Christmas display. Now he does maintenance work for a local motel.

But from 6 to 8 every night he is Santa Claus, wearing a fancy red & white velour outfit, ready to visit with the children (and their parents) who stop by to see him on South Prospect. Or you can find him on facebook at Santa Sedalia.

Santa is adamant about giving back to the community.

“Make sure you give this season. Don’t receive … give!” he said in his closing comments.