Monadnock Santa brings Christmas cheer to local Adult Care Center

The halls of the Monadnock Adult Care Center in Jaffrey were alive Friday with the jingle and jangle of bells, heralding a special visitor.

John Stone of Jaffrey is a regular face at the Adult Care Center. For 17 years, he has served as a driver for the center and, though mostly retired now, is still available on call.

But on Friday, he was there for a different purpose and in a different persona, one he has embodied for more than 30 years: Monadnock Santa.

“It’s magical. You feel it when he comes. You can see it on their faces, and they love it,” said Christine Cardillo, a licensed nursing assistant at the center.

On Friday, the center held Christmas in July, playing carols and holding a Christmas raffle and Christmas trivia games. And, of course, no Christmas would be complete without a visit from Santa Claus himself.

As soon as they heard the bells, several residents grew visibly excited, ready for the visit that has become a twice-yearly tradition at the center.

Dressed in red pants and a Hawaiian shirt decorated with Santas and candy canes, Stone also wore a red baseball cap proclaiming “Yes, I am,” preemptively answering the question asked by many children, even in summer, because of his snowy white beard and wire-rimmed spectacles.

“I love it. I love spreading the joy and talking about the true meaning of Christmas, also,” Stone said. “And getting the clients laughing and dancing, if they so choose, and that’s what it’s all about — having a good time and making people happy.”

Santa was accompanied by his “elves” Brownie and Snickerdoodle, played by Stone’s granddaughters Wesleigh Stone and Willa Stone. After greeting residents, he performed playful magic tricks, pulling an Elf on the Shelf from a hat, making gold coins appear in empty boxes, and guessing the suit and number of a giant playing card — helpfully pointed out by one resident as the only card he’d brought.

Residents also played a Christmas-themed game in which they performed tasks listed on dice as they rolled them, such as spinning while singing their favorite carol or naming all of Santa’s reindeer.

Friday marked the first time Wesleigh and Willa played Santa’s elves. Stone is usually accompanied by “Rebecca” the elf, played by his granddaughter Autumn Stone. He played up the newness by repeatedly “forgetting” his new elves’ names, then insisting they were playing pranks and changing their names each time he asked.

Willa performed a disappearing coin trick for residents, and Wesleigh performed an exploding dice trick, turning a single regular-size die into eight smaller ones, as well as dancing with residents and assisting during games.

“I was scared no one was going to enjoy anything,” said Wesleigh, who admitted to being nervous for her first appearance as an elf. “But everyone eased into it and enjoyed the entire thing. It was a pretty fun experience.”

“It was fun getting to hang out with everyone,” Willa agreed.

Stone will return to the Adult Care Center in December for another visit, this time in his more traditional fur-trimmed Santa suit. He said the visits have become a regular tradition every summer and winter.

“That’s what it’s about,” Stone said. “Spreading Christmas joy, 24/7, 365 days a year.”