Mrs. Claus doesn't mind playing second fiddle

It seems Mrs. Claus missed the feminist movement.

She's not "Ms." Claus. No hyphenated last name for her either. And while her man is out working, she's home watching over the elves and baking cookies. When they appear together, Santa sits on a throne, while she stands dutifully at his side.

It doesn't seem fair, but she's still smiling. And no doubt she'll be smiling when she and the big guy visit Libertyville this weekend.

When the annual Dickens of a Holiday opens Saturday, the woman behind that smile will be Ruth Buehrer. Mother of four, grandmother of 14, great-grandmother of 12. The 82-year-old lifelong Libertyville resident says she doesn't mind playing second fiddle to Santa.

"When those kids run up and give me big hugs and ask why I'm not home with the elves, it's magic," she said. "You can just feel it. You can feel Christmas."

It wasn't long after her husband, Richard, died, when Buehrer's daughter convinced her to volunteer to be Mrs. Claus. "She wanted me to get involved with something," Buehrer said. This will be the ninth year she's been playing Mrs. Claus.

Buehrer says she loves the way kids take things at face value and say what's on their mind. "One little boy said, 'You are 300 years old, aren't you?'" she said. "I told him, 'Of course I am.' You should have seen his smile."

Other kids have thrown harder questions, but she just rolls with them. "They'll ask me where the reindeer are, and I just point back over my shoulder and tell them 'They are way over there, sleeping and keeping warm.' That holds them just fine," she said.

Sponsored by MainStreet Libertyville, this is the 19th year Dickens of a Holiday will be held downtown at Cook Park. Along with visits with Santa and the Mrs., you can visit the Children's Holiday Shoppe at the Libertyville Civic Center, and tours of Cook Mansion are also available. The event happens twice. It runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and again Dec. 13.

Unfazed by the cold, Buehrer hopes to play the role for many years to come. "I'm love the kids and I'm still very much a kid at heart," she said.