POUGHKEEPSIE – Santa Claus arrived at the Poughkeepsie city Public Safety Building on Friday and was treated to a Winter Wonderland, created by the city’s cops, with help from the fire department and a DPW crew. The drive-through festival of decorated emergency vehicles and decorations has become well-attended over the past few years, according to PBA President Kevin Van Wagner.
As visitors drove or walked through the decorated area, they were treated to holiday music.
Santa waited for the visitors to make their way through the decorations before he got to meet them. Gifts were distributed by Santa’s elves who work as police officers during the off-season.
“The line to get in started at 4:30 and went all the way down the block,” said Van Wagner. With the assistance of the IBEW’s donation of toys and financial support, every child who wanted a gift from Santa received one.” Commenting on the effort involved in setting the displays up, the union president said, “It’s hard work but we do it for the children in the community who may not have very many reasons to smile. We’re here to help fix that.”
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