Santa’s magic present all year for one couple in Huntington

Huntington County Tab:

Santa's magic is present every day of the year in the lives of one Huntington couple.

Phyllis and George Pieper have amassed a collection of 400 to 500 Santa Claus items, and most are displayed at their home in northwest Huntington County all year round.

Their first Santa was purchased in 1964, but the two say they didn't really begin avidly collecting until 30 years later, in 1994, when they joined a collection club called Possible Dreams, now a part of Department 56. They started with one little display case, and it "snowballed from there," he says. A bulk of the collection now resides in four display cases.

Over the years, the couple has accumulated several hundred items displaying the face of Santa, from ornaments, figures, ties and pillows. Some of the collection's one-of-a-kind pieces include Santas made from an old thread spool, a shotgun shell and ashes from the eruption of Mount St. Helens.....