Santa's Elves Come to Southampton to Spread Holiday Cheer

Shoppers on Southampton Village's most popular drags – Main Street and Jobs Lane – were pleasantly surprised to see a merry band of elves tumbling, high kicking and cavorting around town last Saturday.

The Santa helpers – all students at Southampton High School – brought big smiles to the children and were a boon to package-laden shoppers as the elves helped them load their cars.

The elves' adventures have been chronicled on YouTube, including visits to Sant Ambroeus, Blue Duck Bakery, and  and playing leap frog at the playground in .  The video have received more than 1,800 hits and the count is growing daily.

The woman behind the elves is Erin Hattrick of . She said she was considering fun and exciting ways to promote village business during the holidays and decided on hiring elves to supplement the Santa that the hires each year. With the Will Ferrell movie "Elf" recently being turned into a Broadway play, it seemed timely, she said.

Hattrick said that when junior Matthew Czelatka came to her store looking for seasonal work, the elf gig was the only thing she had to offer. "It's potenially a little dicey to ask someone to be an elf," Hattrick said.

But Matthew turned out to be excited about the job, and recruited his friends, she said. "Within an hour I had all of the elves in my store," she added.

The elves participated in the Southampton Village Parade of Lights on Dec. 4 and  had hired them for  next Sunday.

The continue bringing the elves back to the village each weekend, and to cover the costs of their costumes, Hattrick is accepting donations at , 51 Jobs Ln, Southampton, 631-287-3800.