It appears Santa Claus will make an early trip to Plum this month even after its holiday celebration was canceled.
Borough officials canceled Christmas at Plum Creek this month due to the pandemic, increased covid restrictions on gatherings and vendors withdrawing as a result.
However, Plum’s four fire departments have coordinated with old St. Nick to drive him around town this weekend.
Santa and his helpers are expected to be in Holiday Park and Unity on Saturday starting at 4 p.m. and in Renton and Logan’s Ferry neighborhoods Sunday at about the same time.
Unity Fire Chief Glenn Kopec said there was some discussion about not going forward with the tradition of driving the jolly man around on the trucks due to covid.
“We decided the community needed it, so we are still going through with it,” Kopec said. “The first shutdown we were able to go out for birthday parades. We thought if we could do that, we could get Santa for the second wave of everything being closed.”
Some things will be different. Firefighters in the respective companies will be wearing masks while traveling.
Stops will be minimal to help with social distancing. Some firefighters will be giving out individually wrapped candy canes.
Holiday Park Lt. Dan Giannettino said his department will also be judging a holiday lighting competition while on the road. Three winners will be chosen to receive a basket of holiday and safety items such as candy and smoke detectors.
“It’s something for the kids, something for the adults and also a safety aspect,” Giannettino said.
Holiday Park VFD community relations officer Alex Marcelewski said the events are split between the departments over the two days so Plum is still covered in case of emergencies while Santa rides around the borough.
Renton Fire Chief Carey Cole said even though there are more restrictions this year, it was important for the departments to spread Christmas cheer.
“It’s much need for everybody, kids and adults,” Cole said. “We need some cheer this season. It’s not the same as it usually is. We’ll do our best to bring that cheer this time of year.”
More information about Santa’s visit is available on the departments’ Facebook pages.
Multiple calls to Logan’s Ferry were not returned.
