Santa Claus will be joining Riverside Fire Department crews in spreading cheer throughout neighborhoods citywide, starting Thursday and continuing into next week, during which he’ll ride aboard a fire engine, making periodic stops to take photos with kids and distribute thousands of candy canes.
The 25th annual “Santa Ride-A-Long” is set to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, running for two hours. It will continue nightly during the same hours until Dec. 21, ending at a different park each night.
Firefighters Association Local 1067 organizes the events every December, with the goal of taking Old St. Nick to every corner of the city.
“The fire engine will travel slowly through the neighborhoods with lights and siren sounding and stopping in specific areas along the route,” Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst said. “Fire engines will remain in service and `Santa’ will respond with the unit if they get an emergency call for service.”
Occasionally, Santa will be in the engineer’s seat, and other times atop the fire engine, waving as he and the crews make their rounds.
A complete list of the parks at which Kris Kringle will be stopping can be found at www.riversideca.gov/press/25th-annual-city-riverside-fire-department-santa%E2%80%99s-ride-along.
According to organizers, Santa is expected to hand out about 4,000 candy canes.
Even during the coronavirus public health lockdowns in 2020, Santa made the rounds.