(12/13) With fire engine E161 as his sleigh, Santa Claus returned to Woodsboro on December 5th for the annual Santa Run. Children and adults stood on sidewalks and porches to meet and greet Santa and Mrs. Claus as they slowly made their way along the six mile route.
Fire company volunteers were happy to see the community come out for the event. And the community looked happy to have Santa back in town.
The Christmas couple rode a fire engine with lights flashing while fire company members in a support vehicle tried, with some success, to play Jingle Bells on its siren.
COVID-19 forced the company to cancel the Santa Run event in 2020. In the days before the 2021 Santa Run, COVID-19 threatened the event again when the disease sidelined those signed up to be Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and Santa's elves. Town Burgess Heath Barnes, who was set to be Santa Claus, said he was disappointed to have missed the Santa Run. He called the event "a great thing for the community."
Gary Wolfe, a former Woodsboro volunteer and a member of two nearby volunteer fire companies, answered the call to be Santa. "It feels amazing to put on the [Santa] suit and see all the children’s excited, smiling faces," Wolfe said.
Woodsboro Fire Chief Micky Fyock, has served as Santa Claus 11 times on all or part of the Santa Run since it started in 2008. He agreed with Wolfe, saying putting on the Santa suit changes a person – "it makes you feel good."
Susan Writer, wife and mother of fire company volunteers, was happy to step in at the last minute to play Mrs. Claus. "With all the world’s gone through and these kids have gone through for the last year and a half, almost two years now, it was good to see them get happy about a normal event," she said.
The Santa Run, and other events during the year, connect the fire company to the town. As a youngster, Katie Dixon watched Santa and his entourage travel up and down her street. "Seeing the volunteer community be active and present encouraged me to want to participate," Dixon said. She is now a Woodsboro fire company volunteer, a volunteer paramedic for Frederick County and a career paramedic in Carroll County.
Although this year’s turnout was lower than usual among the volunteers and spectators, there were still lots of smiles along the route. In past years some residents would plan parties around the Santa Run, and have kids gather at their homes, according to volunteer firefighter Michael Offutt.
Offutt has been part of planning the event since the beginning. He said it took some time to get the route set; initially "we did one continuous route completely through town and everyone was just so worn out." These days, the Santa Run is broken up into two hour-and-a-half segments, and the volunteers get a half-hour break for hot dogs and soup prepared by other volunteers.
Chief Fyock promises the Santa Run will be back in December 2022. He said the event builds good rapport with the town and that everyone who participates, volunteers and residents, have a good time. Fyock added. "It’s a happy day."
Although the Santa run has only been a part of Woodsboro’s history since 2008, the fire company has been part of the town since 1953. That year a group of residents met in town hall, then in the Woodsboro Bank building, to decide what to do with $30,000 remaining in the "The Community Betterment Fund." The money was collected to pay for the town war memorial. A motion was made to give the town up to $20,000 to start a water system. The balance was donated to the newly-formed Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Company to buy a fire engine.
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