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Girard secret Santas hide some holiday cheer
GIRARD
Holiday cheer is in the cards this year, and for lucky Girard residents, it’s all over town.
They might be shopping in a grocery store and reaching for a carton of juice, when suddenly, there it is — a cute little card with an uplifting message taped to the side:
“You’re the reason that someone smiles! I hope you have a great season full of Christmas joy!”
They won’t know who wrote the good wishes that made their day. But that’s half the fun.
The other half, if they want to follow through, is to scan a bar code on the card with their smart- phone. That will bring up an email, and they can send a return message to the card’s designer. If they don’t have a smartphone, the email is included on the card as well.
“You make a card and hide it, they pick it up and read it, and it gives them joy for Christmas,” explained Mary Bonamase, 10, a fourth-grader at Girard Intermediate School.
The project, pulled off by students in Jean Rhoads’ fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes, has spread 180 cards throughout the city and also beyond.
You might, for instance, find a card while you’re shopping at Eastwood Mall in Niles.
Now, no more hints.
“I love making people feel better,” said Myia Meszaros, 11, a fifth-grader who had just finished decorating her card Wednesday morning.
She, Mary, Sebastian Erickson, 10, a fourth-grader, and Ellie Maurice, 11, a sixth-grader, said they would take their cards out into the community in the coming days.
How hard will it be to find these cards?
As it turns out, not very — they want the cards to be found, they explained.
A few of them have been. And it doesn’t matter when the rest turn up, Rhoads said — if you find a card anytime during the year, feel free to tap the spirit of Christmas and email back some good wishes to an anonymous someone who will be very happy.