Touch of Claus : Santa Visits Every Child in Lawndale as He Has Done for Nearly 30 Years

The music grew louder along 164th Street. Finally, 5-year-old Eva Hawthorn could hear the words: “You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry. . . .”

In Lawndale the other night, Santa Claus was coming to town. When his festively lit sleigh stopped in front of her house, Eva’s eyes got big. She grabbed her list and raced out the front door.

Children elsewhere can only hope that St. Nick will come visit them each December. But the 7,500 kids in Lawndale, a dozen miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, get a guarantee.

For nearly 30 years, Santa has traveled past every house in town. Every child has gotten the chance to climb on his knee and whisper holiday wishes into his whisker-covered ear.

The visits are organized by a 25-member Lawndale group whose sole purpose is to bring St. Nick to the two-square-mile city. Volunteers from every corner of town help.

“The Lawndale Women’s Club takes one night,” explained one organizer, Mabel McCulley. “Then there’s Neighborhood Watch, the Chamber of Commerce, the Beautification Committee, the REACT radio club, the Parks Commission, Girl Scout mothers, the Kiwanis Club, the school board, the Soroptimist Club.”

The other night’s 3 1/2-hour outing was in the hands of the Rotary Club. Wearing a pillow beneath his red suit, steelworker Bob Downing climbed onto the sleigh--a sturdy trailer built in 1968 by Lawndale florist Fred Knighton.

Lawyer David Campana drove a pickup truck owned by local printer Robert Young that pulled the sleigh. Longtime residents Ray Hunter and Jack Jones traveled ahead, using bullhorns to alert children that Santa was on his way. Other Rotarians trailed behind for traffic control.

Special city “No Parking--Santa’s Sleigh” signs reserved a spot in each block for the sleigh to stop. In a twinkle of an eye, the sidewalk was filled with excited youngsters.

Santa’s costumed elves, Leuzinger High School freshmen Heather Lopez, Rebecca Matasso, Mary Jo Ruiz and Melissa Smith, helped the children into Santa’s lap and gave each a huge red lollipop.

“There are kids here who wouldn’t get to see Santa if he didn’t come to their house,” said Jose Fernandez, a carpenter who lifted his 4-year-old twin nephews, Ray and Ryan Lopez, aboard the sleigh.

Kolleen Hawthorn, Eva’s mother, said: “This is one of the good things about living in Lawndale.”