On the first day of Christmas, Terry Steinke received a partridge in a pine tree.
The gift was not quite the same as the first gift in the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, where a partridge in a pear tree was given, but it still fit in with the song.
There was also an unsigned note from the giver of the gift.
Since that time, Steinke has received other gifts, also inspired by the song. Each one has an unsigned note, in the same handwriting.
The gifts are two socks, three lottery tickets, four candies, five gold chocolates and six bells, a $7 card from Dairy Queen, eight candy canes and an After Eight chocolate bar.
In the song, the gifts are two turtledoves, three French hens, four calling birds, five golden rings and six geese a laying, seven swans a swimming, eight maids a milking and nine ladies dancing.
“I’m not really sure who’s doing it,” Steinke said of the anonymous gifts. “This s something that is absolutely baffling me.”
In the freshly fallen snow, there are tracks leading to and from Steinke’s home on Solly Road, but one set of tracks was made by a man’s shoe or boot, coming from one direction while another set of footprints was from a woman’s shoe or boot, in the opposite direction.
While the source of the anonymous gifts remains a holiday mystery, Steinke said the gifts have been a heart-warming part of his holiday season.
“I’m extremely humbled to be the recipient of such thoughtful gifts,” he said. “Our world is in such a state of change. It’s good to have the spirit of Christmas presented in such an amazing way.”
If the giver of the gifts follows through with the theme of the song, Steinke will receive more gifts.
The remaining song lyrics call for 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a milking and seven swans a swimming.
However, since the gift giver has not followed the song exactly, there is no way for Steinke to know what will show up on his doorstep next.
He added that while he wonders who has been sending the gifts, he will not actively seek out the anonymous giver. “That would take the fun out of it,” he said.