TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – Santa has been kept quite busy with his pre-Christmas visits across the region thanks to the many fire departments that provide his transportation as his reindeer get ready for their worldwide Christmas Eve gift-bringing tour.
On Saturday Santa arrived at the VFW Post 170 in Poughkeepsie Saturday to deliver gifts to children related to members of the post. His sleigh for the day was a fire engine from the Fairview Fire Department.
The annual event was organized by auxiliary president Melissa Hernandez with the assistance of Dawn Roger and Heidi Herzfeld. The gifts that Santa handed out were provided by members of the post. The two-hour celebration included activities for the kids along with pizza from a local restaurant.
“It’s been a very trying year for everyone,” said Dawn Roger. “We just wanted to bring some joy to the kids.” Fairview Fire Chief Tim Gilnack said that his department arranged to bring Santa to the party while they were escorting him throughout the district. “We started earlier today and have visited more than 1,000 kids in the district,” he said.
