Santastic Saturday

“When the Buckingham Square Mall first opened, it’s said that there was a Santa Claus convention in town,” says Gayle Jetchick of On Havana Street. “So the Santas all decided to go out bar-hopping at the end of the day, and they wound up at the mall. They walked right in and started marching through it, spreading the cheer, and everyone just loved it.”

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More About

• Havana
• Gayle Jetchick
• Santa Claus
• Dartmouth College

Buckingham Square is long gone, of course, and no one really knows if that holiday tale is fact or fiction. But the legend alone was enough to inspire Jetchick to hire five Santas to recall Aurora’s storied Santification for the On Havana Street Secret Santa Shopping Event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today along a banner-festooned stretch of Havana Street between Sixth and Dartmouth avenues. A hot-rodding Santa and other surprises will be cruising the street, and the jolly old elves will be handing out Havana merchant gift certificates, candy and other gifts. If you stop and shop, you can also enter a drawing to win a spree at participating businesses; find a complete list at www.onhavanastreet.com/Denver-events.cfm — and then hit the street.
Sat., Nov. 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2009