Santa meets Snoopy

After six nights and 6,000 cups of apple cider, Santa Claus has completed his run at “The Snoopy House.”

A Costa Mesa tradition run by resident Jim Jordan yearly for more than 40 years, the “Peanuts”-themed holiday display has had a double bill with the Jolly Old Elf on the week before Christmas for close to 20. Those days bring the highest turnout of all, Jordan said.

Still, not every kid is up to seeing Santa, he added. Some get a bit nervous, and flock around another attraction instead.

“The little children that are afraid of Santa Claus will run right up to Snoopy,” Jordan said, chuckling.

Though most things stay constant year after year at the Costa Mesa tradition, the miracle of digital photography has made its way into the routine. Nowadays, every child who visits Santa gets 4-by-6-inch snapshot of the meeting.

“We started the photographs three years ago because so many people were saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I forgot my camera,’” Jordan said. “Everybody enjoyed it so much, we kept doing it. That’s our Christmas gift to them.”

One thing that never changes is that the cheery event always seems to scrape by with enough funding and volunteer elbow grease to make it through for one more year.

“I’m a home remodeler contractor, and we all know how well that’s going,” Jordan said. “It’s tight for me this year, but it always seems like one of the core group will come through. Some vendor will cough up a dozen sheets of plywood just when we need it. Things get done.”

The display, sans Santa, will continue through Jan. 1, but the headiest part of the season is winding down, Jordan said.

“We’ll still have a pretty good turnout tonight,” Jordan said on Christmas Eve.

“We’ll have a short but good one tomorrow. Lot of parents bring their kids to burn off that nervous, fidgety energy.”