NO REINDEER, BUT SANTA FILLS TOYBOX WISHES

Taylor King, 11, of Cape Girardeau, looked with awe at the packaged football the Santa Claus handed him.

Santa and his two helpers stayed for a hug and a few "Merry Christmas"-es before moving on, leaving a black Hefty bag jammed with presents on the living room floor.

As Santa tromped out the front door, into the darkness and cold, and it was clear he wasn't going to take any of the presents back, Taylor went for the bag -- to search for rollerblades, he explained with a grin.

Instead of reindeer, Santa had the diesel engine of a school bus powering his Toybox toy deliveries across the icy Cape Girardeau streets.

"We open up the bag so Santa can give the child one toy," explained Santa, who was Terrell Weaver, 46, of Cape Girardeau, riding in the back of the bus. "You want Santa to hand the child a toy. But just something simple, like a coloring book. So the good presents can come from Mom and Dad."

Thursday night, Weaver delivered toys to families with nearly unfurnished apartments and to families with expensive sound systems; he delivered toys to immaculate houses and to houses with dirty carpets; he delivered toys to children who were joyful to see him and to children who regarded him with a seething distrust.

Toybox is a joint program of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian that provides gifts to children ages 1-12 who wouldn't otherwise have Christmas because their families have financial problems. Families register for the program through the Salvation Army in late November and early December.

Here's the recipe for a good Toybox run, Weaver explained: Don't judge the families' need. Don't overthink things. Just hand out the presents and love for the children. To do anything more is to miss the point.

"This night is for the kids," Weaver said. "I look forward to it. ... It's all those little faces. Christmas is for kids."

Launched from a warehouse in Scott City, Mo., red-suited St. Nicholases accompanied the vans and one bus throughout the Cape Girardeau area, delivering bags full of donated presents. The toys were organized by the requests of the parents who signed up for Toybox deliveries, so among the variety of presents left at each household, some Christmas wishes would be filled.

In the warehouse, Santa Scott Cauble poured over his list of assigned deliveries.

"We're going through the list and trying to memorize the kids' names," said Cauble, 28.

As the delivery teams filed into their various vehicles, Santa Todd Roth, 26, recalled the most memorable delivery of his Toybox run last year: a Cape Girardeau family living in a residence near Highway 74 whose father had died in October.

"It was pretty neat to see the kids, who had been pretty bummed," said Roth. "Their mom was trying to make it a good Christmas."

Weaver recalled a delivery on William Street in Cape Girardeau: "Last year, we went to an apartment with one woman and three or four children. They didn't have anything in there except an open fire. A gas log fire. That was what they were heating by. There was this little boy, maybe 3 years old, who was so happy to see Santa."

When not wearing the white beard and red suit, Weaver is a gravedigger. It is his fourth year making the Toybox run.

Delivery assistant Jane Bear said she joined the effort at Weaver's insistence.

"This Santa Claus, he twisted my arm," she said. "He said, 'You're going.'

A front door opens into a rush of dry, heated indoor air and a swarm of excited children.

"My husband got laid off. ... So this comes at the right time," said mother Stephanie Williamson. "If Santa hadn't come, then they wouldn't have gotten their presents on time."