Steevenson Palmer just likes to smile. Smiling’s his favorite.
And his smile was as wide as Buddy the Elf’s on Thursday when his parents and a New York fire department made his ginourmous Christmas wish come true just after the holiday season.
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The 12-year-old, who developed a love for the movie “Elf” after he was adopted from Haiti and moved to the United States in 2016, was taken on a road trip from Alabama to New York so he could climb onboard the sleigh used in the movie.
“Oh my gosh! I am actually in the sleigh where they filmed the movie ‘Elf,’ Palmer said while seated in the 18-foot, one-ton sleigh. “I am in it right now! Holy cow!”
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When Layla and Kevin Palmer adopted Steevenson when he was 4 years old, he didn’t speak English, had never seen a television and was unfamiliar with Christmas. The new parents - Layla an author and Kevin a member of the band Trust Company - were trying to find a way to calm and entertain their son when they found the only children’s movie in the house.
“We owned predominantly PG-13 DVDs, but we had one that we thought a kid would watch and it was ‘Elf,’” Layla said. “So, that was the one we popped in and, I’m telling you, we didn’t pop that thing out for the first 25 days in a row.”
Steevenson developed such an immediate love for the movie that his parents had to tell him the DVD player broke to stop him from watching it every single day.
“It’s just so good,” Steevenson said. “It’s funny. I mean, I love New York. I love Christmas. I love Will Ferrell. And together they just make one amazing movie.”
Layla said Steevenson also connected with Buddy on a deeper level because of the similar experiences they shared. Both traveled a long distance to find a new home and a family that loved them, all while maintaining immense pride for where they came from.
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“He’s so much like Buddy. He has this sense of wonder and joy,” Kayla said. “The adoption aspect, I think he was like, ‘Oh my gosh, the family works different. It worked different for Buddy. It worked different for me.’ The whole adventure of going somewhere new and finding these other people where you feel like you belong, and you’re loved. I think he related on a bunch of levels.”
So much so that Layla and Kevin surprised Steevenson this week by driving from their home in Montgomery, through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, past the sea of twirly-swirly gum drops, and to the Halesite Fire Department on Long Island that has displayed the sleigh every holiday season since the movie was released 20 years ago.
The sleigh made headlines the week before Christmas when its owner Mark Bozek, a local resident who bought the movie prop at auction and later donated it to the fire house, arranged for a police escort to take the sleigh to Manhattan for the day.
When Layla saw the story, she sent an e-mail to the chief of the fire department asking how long the sleigh would remain on display outside the fire house because she wanted to make a trip from Alabama so her Elf-adoring son could see it.
“Typically, we put our Christmas decorations away right after Christmas,” said Dom Spada, chief of the Halesite Fire Department. “But once I got that email from Mom, I was like, ‘It’s staying out, fellas!’ So here they are today. With everything going on in the world, if our members can help out to spread some joy, we’re happy to do it.”
The drive to New York, with stops in North Carolina and Virginia, took two-and-a-half days. After they reached their Manhattan hotel, they began sampling multiple New York pizzerias and went to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
“I would say the last five or six years, he’s been talking about wanting to come to New York City,” Kevin said. “It’s been a dream of his. So, this Christmas, his present was we got in the car and drove all the way here.”
When they reached the sleigh, Buddy the Elf was there waiting – actually, it was Halesite volunteer fireman Liam Dreusike dressed as Buddy.
Steevenson jumped into Santa’s seat, pressed the buttons on the dashboard and read the Clausometer. And, of course, he admired the famous Kringle 3000 engine that Buddy fixed while helping to restore Christmas spirit.
“Man, I was just like, ‘This is real, right?’” Steevenson said. “I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh! I am actually inside of the sleigh that Buddy and Santa rode.’ And when I saw the Kringle 3000, I was like, ‘OHHH! THE KRINGLE 3000!’”
Had the real Buddy been there, he would have told Steevenson, “It’s just nice to meet another human who shares my affinity for elf culture.”
So much so that the trip gave Steevenson a new idea.
“He wants his bed to be a sleigh now,” Kevin said.
Outside of buying a sleigh-shaped bed frame, how do the Palmers plan to top this Christmas gift for Steevenson next year?
“That’s a good question,” Layla said. “We may need to go to the North Pole.”
