On the night of December 10, Shana Jaggers had 15 minutes to make a decision.
She could either save this beautifully crafted and ornate horse-drawn Christmas sleigh on the front lawn of her 203 Holly Lane home in Princeton’s Country Club Hills; or she could abandon it, and spend more time collecting belongings inside before seeking shelter.
Jaggers chose the former — running outside to push it into her carport.
There was only one slight problem.
In true Grant Beckner fashion, all four tires on the sleigh were flat.
Before his untimely passing in 2017, Jaggers said Beckner was notorious for several things — particularly fun and flat tires. A beloved Caldwell Countian, Beckner was Jaggers’ sweetheart and cowboy, who would’ve gotten a kick out of this conundrum.
Time of the essence, Jaggers took a tow strap — a gift from Beckner, no less, because he’d always told her to be prepared — and hitched the sleigh to her golf cart and pulled it underneath for protection.
Twenty minutes later, an historic EF4 tornado rolled through on a destructive path, with the Jaggers home directly in the way.
Despite damage aplenty around Princeton and beyond, the sleigh went untouched. Not a single scratch could be found.
Just four flat tires, for the beloved family heirloom that Caldwell County has grown to appreciate.
The Beckner sleigh was built in 2015, Jaggers said, because Grant simply wanted to build it. He had a beautiful team of black horses who could pull it, and as a master contractor, he had the ability to craft it.
So he did, completely from scratch, then added fold-down wheels so it could be used in the Princeton Christmas Parades — something that’s happened twice. The one time it pulled Santa, Beckner’s two Rocky Mountain horses shuddered near the Caldwell County Courthouse and threw Santa into the road.
It’s not pulled Santa since.
In 2019, two years after Beckner’s death, Jaggers cooked up a neat idea, and added a “Nice” list of local kids in the neighborhood. Her next-door neighbor, Kate Phelps, is a prolific photographer who takes Santa photos with families during the holidays. The combination was unbeatable.
Jaggers put out an all-call on Facebook, noting Caldwell County families could send in the names of children for the list — then come by and get photos. It exploded to more than 300 names.
In 2020, she didn’t put the sleigh out because of COVID-19 — looking to prevent social gatherings. So 2021 was supposed to be a colossal bounceback year for the sleigh and this list.
Jaggers had more than 900 names for this Christmas.
Just a caretaker of the sleigh, Jaggers said it serves as a pleasant reminder of Beckner’s earthly life — particularly for his two parents and daughter, Lainie.
Following the storms, Jaggers notes the sleigh has been moved to her parent’s front yard on West Main Street — its list still intact — and visitors have been by constantly to see it.
That, my friends, is a Christmas miracle.
