AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) — Sleigh bells are something children around the world hope to hear on Christmas Eve, but in Americus, those sleigh bells could be Michael Luke on his homemade Santa sleigh.

Luke brings out his impressive battery-powered sleigh for holiday events across South Georgia. He said seeing how happy it makes everyone feel makes all the long building hours worth it.

“It makes me feel good, you know. It gives me something to keep motivating me for and to keep going, you know. And just the smiles on the face. Not only when they see this, of course. They’re also seeing Santa most of the time. It just it makes it well worth the time I put into it,” Luke said.

Luke said the idea came from his father always bringing the Christmas spirit to life. He said this allows him to follow his father’s footsteps but with a twist.

“My dad has done Santa for a long time down in Albany and areas, and it just kind of trickled on down to me. I’ve always enjoyed doing Santa, and I wanted something to do, something to stand out and draw more attention to me,” Luke said.

His next project is building a Christmas train and getting the community more involved with his work.

“The next step is to build a steam train. It’s going to have a tender cart where passengers are going to be able to ride. That’s what I’m working on. I’m in the planning stages for it. You know, if people weren’t impressed and didn’t want it, I probably wouldn’t be doing it,” Luke said.

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