By Andy Reid
The Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Santa traded his sleigh for a fire truck Sunday, arriving in Boca Raton with sirens blaring and lights flashing for a few special deliveries.
Boca Raton Fire Rescue chauffeured Santa as part of its annual fundraising effort, delivering gifts via fire truck for a $20 donation.
The fire department expected to deliver more than 400 gifts on Saturday and Sunday, raising about $8,000 to be used for a college scholarship program and to buy gifts for U.S. troops.
Sunday morning, sirens rang out from a white fire engine and rescue truck that pulled onto Forest Hills Lane.
“We try to get the whole neighborhood out,” engine driver Michael Young said about the loud entrance. “All these kids look like they are really enjoying it.”
Gerald and Mary Ordoyne hosted a group of 11 kids whose parents surprised them with the early Christmas presents delivered by fire truck.
Five-year-old Paul Ordoyne and his friends, followed closely by camera-toting parents, ran to the front yard when they heard the sirens.
“You can hear them coming. It’s wonderful,” Gerald Ordoyne said. “As soon as [the kids] hear the sirens, they come running out.”
Children, grandparents and girlfriends have all been on the gift delivery list through the years. The gifts must be provide to the fire department wrapped and can’t be too big. There’s not enough room for anything as big as a bike when you are hauling fire hoses and other emergency equipment.
“Look what I got!” Paul Ordoyne said as he excitedly showed his parents the Star Wars video game he had just unwrapped.
Santa, along with fire department volunteers dressed as reindeer, Mrs. Claus, Winnie the Pooh and other costumed characters, pass out gifts and pose for pictures for 5 to 10 minutes at each stop.
The firefighters volunteer their time and the vehicles used are off-duty backup vehicles that could still be called on if emergencies arise.
The fire department has delivered gifts for 18 years, and the deliveries doubled during the past two years.
“My Santas are going to kill me this year. We work them hard,” Battalion Chief Brett Lea said. Then he took a radio call from one of his delivery teams. “Go ahead, Rudolph One.”
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