Santa makes extra stop

After Christmas night was over and the morning was near its end, Santa made a stop at a Costa Mesa bar and took a load off.

A load full of toys that is.

For more than a decade, Tony’s Place on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa has passed out gifts Christmas Day to needy families in the community. On Tuesday, parents and their children scurried around the bar, taking a seat on Santa’s lap for pictures and grabbing toys.

“(Tony) wanted to give back to the neighborhood,” manager Phil Niesen said.

Niesen has been organizing the event with his wife, Diane, for seven years.

The original owner of the bar, Tony Valente, started the program soon after he bought the joint some 20 years ago. Valente, a former highway patrol officer, died two years ago.

About 200 children will receive a toy from the bar, according to Niesen. They raised money to purchase the toys or received toy donations by soliciting businesses, friends and relatives, or simply from local customers, some of whom attended the event on Christmas morning.

The crowd of neighborhood residents, mostly Latino, were allowed one toy per child.

Many families brought nieces and nephews, grabbing Transformer action figures, blocks, dolls and other varieties of toys.

“I have seven kids, so seven toys,” said Maria Sanchez, a resident near Tony’s Place who heard of the event through signs posted in the neighborhood.

Volunteers handed out candy, cookies and helped organize what was a rapid giveaway.

Children and parents showed up just before 10 a.m. for the event’s start, which saw children rummaging through a table of toys like birds flocking to a pile of feed.

With the gusty Santa Ana winds on display, the toys were moved inside for children to pick through. Lines were formed early and filled a large portion of the small parking lot.

Children and parents entered in small groups, but quickly filled the area surrounding the toys.

Once they left, the table, once bountiful, was barren — 20 minutes from the giveaway’s inception.

“We love the kids,” said Niesen. “It’s tradition.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].