photo by: Josie Burkhart

The Grinch high-fives students at Anna Marie Ayers Elementary School in Martins Ferry on Thursday as Eastern Construction Excavating out of Steubenville visits schools to bring Christmas fun.

The Grinch visited Martins Ferry’s Anna Marie Ayers Elementary School, where he flew in the sky in a special sleigh as the children watched.

Eastern Construction Excavating of Steubenville visits schools around the area, including 30 different schools in Jefferson County and some in Belmont County, to let students see the Grinch fly in the air in a special sleigh and say “Hi” while giving high-fives to them. The company has visited 23 schools this year with Ayers Elementary School as its third to last stop.

This is the fourth year the company visited Anna Marie Ayers Elementary School. The idea came about when the company got its parade float ready and all the parades it was going to be a part of got canceled due to COVID, said Vice President of Operations Brennan Stover. He added that he knew someone who said to bring the float to the schools instead.

The company also decorates its tractor-trailer in a Christmas theme.

The goal is to attract and inspire the children, Stover said, in hopes students might understand they can pursue their goals and dreams when they’re older.

Stover said he had never seen anything like what the company does when he was in elementary school, and seeing the Grinch flying in a sleigh is a good time for students.

“There’s a lot of stress that comes with Christmas,” Stover said. “Everybody is excited to get out of school, and I think this attracts the kids and gets them excited for Christmas.”

In prior years, the company would swing the Grinch around in the air in a cage. But this year it instead kept the sleigh open so students could say hello to him.

Stover noted that he thinks the students are not only excited to see the Grinch but also the heavy equipment the company uses, which is also decorated with the Christmas theme.

He described the tractor-trailer and sleigh as a traveling amusement park with what the company does. Stover’s inspiration for the Grinch in the sleigh comes from his own daughter, who he said taught him how to be a better person and give back to the community.

“It’s not only to give back to the community,” he said, “but to get these kids excited, and it has a special place in my heart, especially after having my little daughter.”

The company didn’t know exactly how the operation would pan out but decided to build a sleigh in the middle of summer. Workers had to figure out how to attach it to the excavator to swing it around, which took a lot of trial and error. After figuring out the logistics of it and making sure it was safe, it worked.

Stover wants to thank the schools for allowing him and his crew to visit and his team, including James Montgomery as the Grinch, Daniel Ashmead and Chris Messner.

Principal Nick Stankovich said the students enjoy and love the experience. He added that the school tries to do a lot of Christmas activities during December, so this is another added activity.

“They have the decorations and the Grinch dressed up. It’s another part of the themes that we’re doing here,” he said. “They just have a blast when they see it. … We try to do as much as we can to build the excitement up to Christmas.”