Tucson Kicks off Christmas Week with The Polar Express

Tucson, AZ, December 22, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a fancy employee party, Fairway Regional Manager, Dan Yribar opted instead to host a special screening of the The Polar Express and invited Fairway's customers, business partners, family, friends and the entire Fairway team.  “The Polar Express is such a heart-warming holiday film and the Fox Theatre was the perfect venue for our large group,” said Yribar.

Fairway served over a thousand holiday cookies and gallons of hot cocoa before the film, but a special visit from Santa had children of all ages smiling.  Erin Smiley, who attended the event with her husband Patrick and their 3 young children said it was the perfect way to kick off the week of Christmas.  “We just love The Polar Express and it was so special to see my kids light up when Santa came ho-ho-ho’ing down the theatre aisle,” said Erin Smiley.

"The Polar Express is such a heart-warming holiday film and the Fox Theatre was the perfect venue for our large group."

Dan Yribar, Regional Manager

In The Polar Express film, Santa awards a child with the “first gift of Christmas”, but Santa couldn’t choose just one child at Fairway’s event last night.  According to Fairway’s Santa, “Elaina has spent most of her 10yrs in foster homes and is spending her 1st Christmas this year with a new foster family and she's been working very hard to keep her room clean.  Samantha, whose dad has spent more of the past year in the hospital than at home, has been an enormous help to her mom.”  Both Elaina and Samantha were recognized on stage and presented a special gift from Santa.

The festive evening wrapped up with a special performance by Sophia Alexander, who sang “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” and with pictures and an opportunity to visit with Santa. 

Guest Brittany Ferentino, who attended with her daughter Sariah said laughing, “the only thing bad about the night was when my daughter told Santa all she wanted for Christmas was a pink electric scooter.  I sure hope she’s on the nice list this year, because I’m done shopping!”

“My own family and I had a wonderful evening and from the smiles on everyone’s faces, I think the rest of our guests did too,” said Yribar.  “We’re already planning the 2nd annual Fairway Holiday Appreciation Event for December 2015!”