By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

OVER-THE-RHINE - A cold rain can't chill a warm heart. It would be hard to find a heart warmer than that of Gail Conner of West Chester.

Montgomery Joseph, of Over-the-Rhine, picks up Christmas presents for his family Tuesday morning. (Steven M. Herppich photo)

Wearing a hooded gray raincoat, she and a small army of volunteers - friends and family members - stood in the rain early Tuesday morning in an East Liberty Street parking lot and unloaded three trucks full of thousands of brightly wrapped Christmas packages. They are gifts for the children of Over-the-Rhine.

Outside the parking lot, well over 1,000 people - young and old alike - waited in a line that snaked around the corner and several blocks down Walnut Street for a bagful of Christmas gifts, 16,000 gifts in all, that Conner was giving away through the FreeStore/FoodBank.

"Can't talk now,'' Conner said to a visitor to the Grammer's restaurant parking lot, across Liberty Street from the FreeStore/FoodBank. "Talk to Mrs. Santa Claus.''

Mrs. Santa Claus - Conner's friend Patty Wheeler of West Chester - told the story. How Conner's sister died in an auto accident just before Thanksgiving 13 years ago.

Volunteers fill toy orders for the crowd in line Tuesday morning. (Steven M. Herppich photo)

"That Christmas, she drove by the FreeStore/FoodBank and saw the line of people outside'' waiting for donations of food, said Wheeler, dressed in a white wig and Mrs. Claus dress. "She decided right there that instead of turning the holidays into a time when she remembered the tragedy of her sister, she would turn it into a time of giving to others, to people who have not had all that life has given her.''

That first year, Conner showed up at the Freestore/Foodbank with about 30 toys and passed them out to neighborhood kids.

Since then, her holiday donations have turned into a massive yearlong effort of buying toys, of volunteers wrapping them, then of organizing the annual giveaway. She buys the toys with her own funds and refuses doantions.

Tuesday, Conner and her husband, Bob, owner of an engineering firm, and two of their children were there to help, along with Wheeler and her daughter, and a raft of other family and friends.

Cincinnati Police Officer Lesa Chatman worked the security detail, keeping the line orderly, directing traffic and greeting the people in line. Chatman has done this job for years, scheduling one of her vacation days to help with the Conner gift-giving.

"It's a wonderful thing this woman has done,'' said Chatman. "I know these people (in line). They don't have much. Without Mrs. Conner, a lot of children in this neighborhood would have nothing.''

Barbara Bunton of Over-the-Rhine got in line early with two of her grandchildren. She waited for hours for the delivery trucks to be unloaded and the gates opened.

"It's hard this time of year for a lot of folks,'' said Bunton, pulling a hood over her head as the rain began falling harder. "God bless this lady. It wouldn't be much of a Christmas without her.''

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E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com