The holiday means more than decorating to Inverness couple

Mary Ann and Frank Sesko know a love for Christmas can spread throughout your life.

While their Inverness home, with a tree in every room and decorations inside and out, is the most obvious sign, it's not the only one.

The couple also has spent decades helping bring Santa Claus to schools, nursing homes and the residences of friends. Recently a young man who had enjoyed Santa's visits since childhood brought friends and family to tears when he proposed to his sweetheart while she sat on Santa's knee.

In a new endeavor, the Seskos have written and published a children's book called "Santa & Sam's Big Secret" that they hope will be the first in a series.

But back to those decorations: They are more than glitter to Mary Ann, who enjoys telling a visitor the history of each. The bubble lights on the living room tree came from one of her sisters, a nostalgic reminder of their childhood. And when she was principal at St. Theresa School in Palatine, the school board decided the North Woods Santa prominently displayed in the family room fit Mary Ann's love for both Christmas and the vacation area.

Then she cheerfully explains how the Christmas trees began proliferating 25 years ago when they moved into their new home.

"We had a real tree in the living room, and none in the family room where we spent all our time," said Mary Ann. "And then I said the hall had to have a tree when people came in-."

Every tree in the Sesko house has a theme: The one in the dining room actually "snows" and is decorated with favorites from the White House Ornament Collection.

Their son, Peter, who lives in Winnebago, and daughter, Peggy Dyckman of West Chicago, purchased it for Mary Ann on condition it would be her last tree, but she has bought one more since.

In the family room only white ornaments can go on the tree, which used to be the Snow White tree until daughter Peggy married and took the Snow White tree topper with her. Some lights are snowmen or teddy bears, and you'll see crocheted ornaments and an homage to Frank's beloved White Sox.

One ornament does not fit the theme. The colorful angel face was given to Mary Ann's mother, Stephanie Pundo, who lived with the Seskos for a few years before her death last spring. It hung on the tree beside her favorite chair, and it always will.

The living room tree with 452 ornaments is the family's "official" tree, and the room is packed with mementos and fun.

Frank loves the talking Lone Ranger ornament. Mary Ann shows off the angel tree topper from her home when she was a child, and a small mechanical Santa carries a string of lights up and down a ladder near the tree.

Check out The Cinnamon Bear from a serialized radio show that played 15 minutes each night from Thanksgiving until Christmas, starting in the 1930s. The Seskos' daughter, Peggy Dyckman, plays an episode each day for her second grade class at Holy Family Academy in Inverness, and Mary Ann points out the youngsters have to use their imaginations without the help of television or computer dramatizations.

Here are ornaments the Seskos' offspring crafted and religious ones the couple made to send as Christmas cards in their early years of marriage. And yes, they kept ornaments given them by students. Mary Ann was a teacher and principal and now works in human resources for Allstate. Frank also worked in elementary and high schools and now instructs teachers at Webster University, which has a local branch in Elgin.

The Victorian tree that fits the style of the home greets visitors in the entry with Santas, candles, old-fashioned post card ornaments and flowers. Poinsettias light the way up the stairs.

Quirky trees include a lighted palm tree in Mary Ann's office and the fisherman's tree in Frank's. Through the rear windows visitors can see a large blowup Santa's workshop and a tree for the birds on the deck.

On the exterior of the house the sweetest decoration is a blue spruce that stands by itself near a grove of white pines. It reminds Mary Ann of the littlest fir tree, a child's Christmas story from Hans Christian Andersen that has gone through many versions.

Although Christmas is Mary Ann's special holiday, early in their marriage she told Frank she wanted an individual event for her birthday, which is two days after Christmas and always got lumped in with the major holiday.

So for 32 years the family celebration of her birthday has revolved around - you guessed it - "A Christmas Carol" at Goodman Theatre.

Where to get it

Santa & Sam's Big Secret is written by May Ann and Frank Sesko of Inverness and illustrated by Ryan Fisher of Hoffman Estates. It is available for $14.95 at santaandsam.com.