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36 maconmagazine.com | December 2025/January 2026 the SEC Championship game. A jazz trio provided ambiance, and while tables were set up on the street, people also just popped into foyers in several homes. Neighbors hugged and snapped pictures of their children on Santa's knee. A live Santa, delivering gifts to all the children, has always been part of the Beverly Place lore – with neighborhood men once razzing each other about who would sport the Santa suit, or a police car accompanying his grand entrance. Dr. Sam Patton, an early resident who was integral to the Christmas celebration, famously would wait until after the Nancy Hanks train would rumble past the neighborhood to emerge as Santa, a bit of perfectly timed childlike magic. For Sapp, the enduring enchantment of the Beverly Place Christmas Party says something about the kind of people drawn to these historic homes. "At the end of the day, people can't let it go because it's tradition," she refl ected. "People who choose to live on this street value tradition. It's the same impulse evidenced by choosing a house built in the early 1900s. You're seeking something lasting." That longing for continuity keeps the celebration thriving even when the logistics seem daunting. The story that the party nearly doesn't happen, but it somehow always does is echoed Do you have a milestone moment to share? Email hello@maconmagazine.com so we can celebrate with you. in previous news stories. Each year, volunteers organize refreshments and the much-anticipated visit from Santa. Each house can pitch in something diff erent. Just when the planning feels like too much, someone new joins in. "Megan and I have so much fun planning it," Simpson said. "Even if it gets a little crazy. Like, what are we going to do when we're not texting all day, every day about the Christmas party? Does it stop tomorrow?" A light that keeps glowing As the 75th party wrapped up, the soft glow of Christmas lights refl ected off the old brick façades as a warm crowd hung around in Sapp's home, engaging in nostalgia. "There's just something special here," Sapp said. "You don't fi nd it other places." Sapp's sentiment was echoed in a neatly wrapped summary from an unknown author in 1959, whose typed memo about the newest Christmas tree is stuff ed in the archived binder behind a hand-written cursive planning note about a menu of egg and chicken salad sandwiches. "Much could be said about each individual who live[sic] in the twenty-four houses which line Beverly Place," it explained. But each individual is woven beautifully into the fabric of a tight-knit neighborhood, just like each twinkling light on the tree in the cul-de-sac comes together to make the prettiest picture. It's the sketch of a place which, like the grand holly tree stretching up to the sky, has roots that run deep. The storybook-style houses give the neighborhood a distinct character. Santa sits for photos inside a Beverly Place home. "People who choose to live on this street value tradition. It's the same impulse evidenced by choosing a house built in the early 1900s. You're seeking something lasting."