By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Valley Intermediate School fourth-grader Layton Eads knew exactly what she was looking for when she entered the school’s Santa Shop on the morning of Dec. 5 to buy her family members’ Christmas gifts.

Her cash on hand was just slightly less than the cost of the items she brought to the cash register, but she quickly prioritized.

“I will put this bracelet up, because I want to get this for my grandmother,” Eads said, proudly holding up a small metal bookmark.

“Oh, she will love that,” Valley Intermediate PTO member Charity Russell said as she recalculated the cost of Eads’ items.

The school’s main foyer was a flurry of activity on Dec. 5 as classes took turns perusing the wide range of items in the Santa Shop and having their purchases gift wrapped at a pair of tables in the hallway.

PTO member Karen Powell, a Santa Shop veteran, helped Russell man the cash register in the shop, and said she was quick to volunteer for the job.

“It’s fun to volunteer for this, because the kids get so excited,” Powell said, noting all proceeds from the shop are used by the PTO to purchase teacher supplies and other classroom needs.

Each year, a few items become noticeably more popular than others in the Santa Shop. This year, small stuffed elves and color-changing mood rings were the hot-ticket items, Russell said.

The shop also was filled with items ranging from small tool sets to paracord keychains and toys of all shapes and sizes. The items ranged in price from 25 cents to $5.

“They are coming in with a lot more money than we expect this year,” Russell said with a laugh. “A little bit of money goes a long way in here.”

In the hallway outside the shop, PTO volunteers Denise Hartley and Keri White were working rapidly to gift wrap the students’ items.

“It’s been nonstop out here,” Hartley said with a laugh as a line of about 15 students stretched in front of the table. “It’s been a good year so far.”