DECATUR - Children came from all around the area to meet up with Santa Claus during his first weekend in Central Park on Saturday. Youngsters, whose wishes ranged from a tent and sleeping bag to a new "bicycle honker," waited in line for a chat with the busy toymaker.

Santa said he thoroughly enjoys the chance to share in the holiday season with local little ones.

"If I had to pick out one particular thing, it's to bring a kid in here that is so shy and withdrawn that he won't have nothing to do with you, and by the time he leaves, that's your best buddy," Santa said. "That's the stuff I get from it."

The Smalley family made the trip down to the park and waited excitedly outside they tiny house for an audience with Santa. Dylaney, 5; Parker, 8; Peyten, 9; and Dylan, 14, took turns telling him what they hope he will leave for them Christmas morning. Their wishes ran the gamut from a baby doll to an iPod Touch.

John and Beverley Gilbert brought children Lora Lyons, 11, and Matthew Gilbert, 5, downtown to share their Christmas requests with the big guy, too. Matthew asked for new Hot Wheels cars, and Lora requested a Tinker Bell blanket for her collection.

John Gilbert remembered going to see Santa in Central Park when he was a child.

"We used to get cookies and candy canes, and he was just a nice man, really nice," he said. "I mean, it's some of the good memories."

Jack Penrod, 67, has been portraying Santa on and off since the late 1960s, when he lived in New Jersey. He used to don the red suit every year for the children at a previous employer's Christmas party in Aurora.

"After the movie was over, Santa would come down the aisle, and he had a present for each and every one of the children that was there," he said.

The state of the economy has not affected the children's wish lists this season, Penrod said.

"And I don't really think it's affected the parents, either," he added. "The parents seem to be going along with the children, even when they ask for these Xbox 360s and Wii games, which are a little bit high."

The jolly old elf wasn't the only one spreading holiday cheer downtown Saturday. Former Decatur resident Carol Miller and her niece Cassie Rios, 16, of the Chicago area, staked out a spot outside of Macon Ice Cream to hold "free hugs" signs.

Miller, the founder of Positive Focus, an organization dedicated to encouraging a positive outlook on life, said the two were in town for Thanksgiving and decided to offer hugs to downtown shoppers, something the organization does twice a month on Michigan Avenue.

The pair drew a mixture of quizzical looks, smiles and chuckles from passers-by, but a few took advantage of the hugs. Myrna Bedford thanked the women for the hugs they had given her earlier.

"I think everybody could use a hug," she said. "It doesn't matter how many hugs you get every day, you know. I mean, it's good for the body and the soul."

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