Santa Clause arriving in Groveville, on our 1941 Ward LaFrance, in the 1940's, must have been a icy night, with those Snow Chains on the truck
Santa Clause arriving in Groveville, December, 2007Almost every volunteer fire company in the area has this tradition and they all do it on their own schedule.
Groveville Fire Company has been doing this as long as anyone can remember. The oldest picture here goes back to Santa on our 1941 Ward LaFrance, so we know it goes back at least that far. I was the Santa on the truck that went through Groveville for over ten years and loved every minute of it.
Our Santa schedule was the same as far back as I can remember. About three months before Christmas the Christmas Committee would have their meeting. Usually the committee consisted of the same members as the year before, with the addition of maybe one new member. On the agenda was deciding how many children we would be planning for, each year we seemed to plan for more children. I believe the highest number, I remember, was us planning for five hundred children.
Next we would see if we have candy boxes and stockings left over from last year. We always bought these in lots of one thousand, so this year we were prepared to the next year and we got a better price that way. Then someone would be appointed to go to Levin Candy on South Clinton Avenue and order the candy boxes, the stockings and enough hard candy to fill five hundred boxes and five hundred Candy Canes.
A committee member would contact the costume store and reserve three Santa Costumes, later we bought our own and then someone would have too make sure they were cleaned and ready for the big night.
Another person’s job was to go to Lou’s Home Movies on Chambers Street and reserve one hour of 16mm cartoon films and make sure we had a spare bulb for the projector.
In the beginning of December someone would go to Blue Eagle Fruit and Produce on South Broad Street and order five hundred apples and oranges. They would take a stocking with them to make sure they got the grade of fruit that would fit the stocking, one year we bought fruit too big and almost caused a catastrophe.
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One year a member said that he could save us money on the fruit, he had a better deal somewhere else. When we opened the boxes we found that somewhere along the line the fruit had gotten frozen, it was like filling the stockings with "prunes". Thank goodness the owner of Blue Eagle, Gerry Munson, was a friend and long time Groveville resident and saved us at the last minute.
All of the ordered items would be picked up and at the firehouse about a week before Christmas.
The Sunday afternoon before Christmas we would gather at the fire house and get the stockings ready. We would put tables in a row to form a production line. Candy boxes would be filled the same way every year. The boxes had to be folded and put together, and then each would get filled with eight ounces of hard candy, each filled with an eight ounce beer glass filled with candy.
Then the stockings would be filled, the apple had to go in first, because they would fit in the toe, if you put the candy box in first you would run out of room in the stocking. Next you put in the orange, followed by the candy box, and then the candy cane and was slid in. Sometimes a coloring book or fire safety book was added. There are a lot of rules for stocking filling, all tried and true.
All of the ordered items would be picked up and at the firehouse about a week before Christmas.
The Sunday afternoon before Christmas we would gather at the fire house and get the stockings ready. We would put tables in a row to form a production line. Candy boxes would be filled the same way every year. The boxes had to be folded and put together, and then each would get filled with eight ounces of hard candy, each filled with an eight ounce beer glass filled with candy.
Then the stockings would be filled, the apple had to go in first, because they would fit in the toe, if you put the candy box in first you would run out of room in the stocking. Next you put in the orange, followed by the candy box, and then the candy cane and was slid in. Sometimes a coloring book or fire safety book was added. There are a lot of rules for stocking filling, all tried and true.
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Most of the work was done by the men, but it was all accomplished with a lot of help and support of a very active Ladies Auxiliary.
On Christmas Eve, we would gather at the firehouse by 4:30 PM, most of us came right from work, without stopping home.
The wooden chimney seats, painted like brick, had to be fastened to the trucks, the Santa’s had to get ready. We had two Santa’s on two trucks, one was designated as the “In Town Route” and the other was the “Country Route”.
The “Country Route” would load up a Karch’s Esso Station on Route130 (now Mule’ Auto Body) and later at the Yardville First Aid on Route 156. They would cover the streets behind Iccara’s Pizza, streets behind Yardville School, Papp Village, Yardville – Allentown Road, Crosswicks Road, and Crosswicks area. They would be done long after the other route.
The “In Town Route” started precisely at 5:30PM at Anchor Thread and proceeded up Main Street, bear right on Allen Street to the end, then back to Main to Broad Street. Then right on Broad Street, to Pettyridge Road, right on Pettyridge and complete all the streets in Groveville Gardens, exiting at Richbell Road and Main Streets, right on Main Street to Broad Street and left on Broad, bearing right on Pilgrim Way, back onto Broad and continuing to Route 156. We turned left on Route 156.
We then would stop at St. Elizabeth’s Home, for the longest time this was a home for Mentally Challenged Adults. We had a patient count from the Nun’s and we would bring enough Filled Stockings for each patient and Nun. Santa would get off the truck there and greet the patients and give them stockings, this was the most rewarding part of me being Santa that I could ever hope for, and this made it all worth it, even when it was cold, snowing, or raining.
Then we continued on to the Polish American Club, there we turned around and proceeded up Martins Lane. Then we returned to Route 156 to Church Street, right on Church Street, and through Eagle Rock or Sherwood II Apartments, (depending on your age). Continuing on Church Street to Main Street, right on Main Street to the fire house. There Santa would exit the truck behind the fire house.
The Children waiting for Santa at the fire house would have been treated to an hour of cartoons. The Santa on the truck would be cold, sometimes wet, snow covered, or just blown apart from his ride on the truck so the third Santa, warm and dry would appear for the children. He would have each child sit on his lap; listen to their Christmas Wishes, give them a filled stocking, and parents would take pictures.
The crew from the first truck would bring the truck back inside, remove the chimney, and return it to service. They would then load up the utility truck (9-3) with filled stockings and take them to some underprivileged family’s we knew of on the other side of Crosswicks, and families of children unable to get to the firehouse, whether due to illness or handicapped.
On Christmas Eve, we would gather at the firehouse by 4:30 PM, most of us came right from work, without stopping home.
The wooden chimney seats, painted like brick, had to be fastened to the trucks, the Santa’s had to get ready. We had two Santa’s on two trucks, one was designated as the “In Town Route” and the other was the “Country Route”.
The “Country Route” would load up a Karch’s Esso Station on Route130 (now Mule’ Auto Body) and later at the Yardville First Aid on Route 156. They would cover the streets behind Iccara’s Pizza, streets behind Yardville School, Papp Village, Yardville – Allentown Road, Crosswicks Road, and Crosswicks area. They would be done long after the other route.
The “In Town Route” started precisely at 5:30PM at Anchor Thread and proceeded up Main Street, bear right on Allen Street to the end, then back to Main to Broad Street. Then right on Broad Street, to Pettyridge Road, right on Pettyridge and complete all the streets in Groveville Gardens, exiting at Richbell Road and Main Streets, right on Main Street to Broad Street and left on Broad, bearing right on Pilgrim Way, back onto Broad and continuing to Route 156. We turned left on Route 156.
We then would stop at St. Elizabeth’s Home, for the longest time this was a home for Mentally Challenged Adults. We had a patient count from the Nun’s and we would bring enough Filled Stockings for each patient and Nun. Santa would get off the truck there and greet the patients and give them stockings, this was the most rewarding part of me being Santa that I could ever hope for, and this made it all worth it, even when it was cold, snowing, or raining.
Then we continued on to the Polish American Club, there we turned around and proceeded up Martins Lane. Then we returned to Route 156 to Church Street, right on Church Street, and through Eagle Rock or Sherwood II Apartments, (depending on your age). Continuing on Church Street to Main Street, right on Main Street to the fire house. There Santa would exit the truck behind the fire house.
The Children waiting for Santa at the fire house would have been treated to an hour of cartoons. The Santa on the truck would be cold, sometimes wet, snow covered, or just blown apart from his ride on the truck so the third Santa, warm and dry would appear for the children. He would have each child sit on his lap; listen to their Christmas Wishes, give them a filled stocking, and parents would take pictures.
The crew from the first truck would bring the truck back inside, remove the chimney, and return it to service. They would then load up the utility truck (9-3) with filled stockings and take them to some underprivileged family’s we knew of on the other side of Crosswicks, and families of children unable to get to the firehouse, whether due to illness or handicapped.
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All of the left over stockings would be donated to needy families, Rudy Coderoni always knew of someone needy and would take the stockings to them.
By the time all of the trucks were back and had been returned to service, the fire house cleaned and straightened, most of us got to our homes about ten o’clock on Christmas Eve to start our families Christmas.
The time spent doing this was so rewarding that rarely did anyone complain. Today most Volunteer Fire Companies can’t accomplish this on Christmas Eve.
Groveville Fire Company, for example, does it on a Sunday afternoon and it takes all day.
Why, you ask, well with the growth and expansion of Groveville's district, the amount of streets that Santa must cover has almost doubled, the fire house is no longer in the middle of Groveville, most people used to walk to the firehouse, today they would have to load the family in the car to get there. If all the “Santa Aged” children in the fire district showed up for a stocking, I would bet it would be well over 1200, that’s a lot of filled stockings and I doubt that Santa would have time to hear all those wishes in one night, let alone wait while the parents took their pictures. The final and most important reason and the one that bothers me the most is that volunteerism is way down, its way down everywhere, just a sign of the times, and there is just not the manpower to accomplish this task today, shame ain’t it.
By the time all of the trucks were back and had been returned to service, the fire house cleaned and straightened, most of us got to our homes about ten o’clock on Christmas Eve to start our families Christmas.
The time spent doing this was so rewarding that rarely did anyone complain. Today most Volunteer Fire Companies can’t accomplish this on Christmas Eve.
Groveville Fire Company, for example, does it on a Sunday afternoon and it takes all day.
Why, you ask, well with the growth and expansion of Groveville's district, the amount of streets that Santa must cover has almost doubled, the fire house is no longer in the middle of Groveville, most people used to walk to the firehouse, today they would have to load the family in the car to get there. If all the “Santa Aged” children in the fire district showed up for a stocking, I would bet it would be well over 1200, that’s a lot of filled stockings and I doubt that Santa would have time to hear all those wishes in one night, let alone wait while the parents took their pictures. The final and most important reason and the one that bothers me the most is that volunteerism is way down, its way down everywhere, just a sign of the times, and there is just not the manpower to accomplish this task today, shame ain’t it.
.
Just remember even in these times they still try to give the children something, even if its not what we remember.
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