Santa, Kids Meet Up At Firehouses
Dec 20, 2024
The firehouse Christmas crew. A hundred New Haven children rushed to their local firehouses — not to report a fire, but for face time with St. Nick.The occasion this past weekend was the seventh annual “All Hands Toy Drive” organized by Local 825 of the firefighters union along with American Legion Post 132 (which includes active and retired city firefighter military veterans), the probate court, AMR, and the NHFD Emerald Society.The event took place at 10 different firehouses in town. St. Nick arrived not through the chimney, but on the back of a tiller truck straight from the North Pole.Each kid sat with Santa and got a gift, then got a chance to swap it for another in a present pile. The families took home holiday meal-starter packages with veggies and starches.Mike Rickaby and Dan Del Prete started the annual holiday event “to make sure these kids had a chance to have a Christmas experience with Santa, music, gifts, dinner and first responders/military. We are always there for the worst times, we deserve some good times too.”