NILES — Santa Claus may have fallen off his sleigh seat and some of his reindeer may have fallen into the St. Joseph River, but Mike Peters is not letting the incident fell his mood.

Since 1962, a Christmas display of St. Nicholas, his sleigh, his reindeer and a Christmas tree has been set on the St. Joseph River near the Grant Street Bridge so children at Spectrum Health Lakeland’s nearby hospital can find holiday cheer.

Peters and a few other volunteers prepped and repaired the display with their own time and funds, launching it Nov. 31, 2019. On Sunday, after two days of rain and minor flooding, the volunteer crew awoke to find the sleigh display damaged.

The Santa figure had fallen, a fence was damaged, electrical components were lost and three reindeer were reported floating down the river toward Lake Michigan.

Peters, a longtime volunteer, said this was the worst damage that the float has sustained.

“It looked really good this year, too, darn it,” he said. “We thought that with the painting and stuff with it and the extra lighting we put on it, it was really showy this year.”

Now, volunteers are accepting donations to make anticipated repairs and purchases once the pontoon the display sits on is brought in to shore.

Cash and checks, made payable to Santa on the River, can be dropped off at Circle Federal Credit Union, 507 E. Main St., Niles, and East Main Gardens, 1521 E. Main St., Niles.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, Front Street Pizza, 510 N. Front St., Niles, will also accept donations.

Peters, standing behind the counter at East Main Gardens Florist Inc., said he has already received multiple donations. He said it does not feel right to ask the community for money, especially given that the purpose of the display is to instill joy at no cost to hospitalized children and the community at large.

He is thankful for all the support, however. Peters is unsure of the extent of the damage — and, thus, the price tag — so any donation is appreciated.

Larry Pickles, volunteer, shares the same ambivalence as Peters. He said it was not in the project’s “genes” to ask for money but instead to help others.

Pickles stood near the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail Thursday morning. Behind him was the damaged display and Spectrum Health Lakeland. He remembers a time years ago when he was in the second-floor children’s wing of the hospital, looking at the display.

Now, he hopes to pass along the tradition to his own children, as do other volunteers. Donations will make that possible.

Pickles was by the river Thursday to check up on the display and the state of water. While volunteers planned to take the display out of the St. Joseph River after the Hunter Ice Festival ends Sunday, the volunteers have to be able to get in the river with their boat in the first place.

Peters and Pickles believe display damage was caused by the river’s flooding, which sped up the St. Joseph’s speed. That in turn loosened up dead trees by the river’s banks, which hit the display hard enough to cause damage and property loss.

The flooding has also prevented the volunteer crew from access the river’s boat docks. Reaching the display would be like a scene from a James Bond film, Pickles said.

The latest forecasts do not show the St. Joseph River’s levels returning to normal, wrote Michael Lewis, of the National Weather Service’s northern Indiana forecast office.

Many variables contribute to river forecasting, he said. Cold weather may bring ice accumulations, which may slow flow, but it will also prevent the ground from thawing, meaning water cannot soak up.

Peters is more hopeful. He said over the past few days, the water levels have dropped a few inches.

Through it all, Peters was happy to continue making others happy through the Christmas display.

The fact that its tree is still standing is nice, too.

“Someone is watching over that one, for sure,” he said.