For hundreds of children in this tiny river town, there is no Santa Claus. Mrs. Claus, on the other hand, has quite a following.
Each of this town's 450 children lined up Monday to receive a free Christmas gift from hotel owner Charli Hand, who started handing out toys to kids 11 years ago."Some of the kids would not have a Christmas without this," said Janet Allen, a first-grade teacher at Isleton Elementary School. "The whole town does this and Charli is head honcho. She has several elves who help her, but she is our Mrs. Claus."
Thanks to Hand, every child in town up to age 12 gets a present at the annual Isleton Christmas party. And these free gifts aren't just pieces of candy wrapped in Santa Claus paper, either.