By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
COEYMANS HOLLOW — Santa Claus made an early stop in Coeymans Hollow to have lunch with the children a couple of weeks before his big day.
The annual Lunch with Santa took place Saturday at the Coeymans Hollow firehouse, hosted by the auxiliary with chicken nuggets, homemade macaroni and cheese, and “lots of cookies at Santa’s request,” event organizer Jack Dennis said.
“This is a Christmas party for the children,” Dennis said. “It’s the first time we are doing this since COVID, so it’s been three years. It feels good to be back and we’ve got a good crowd. We do this for the community — the community supports us and we support them.”
After families had lunch and kids wrote letters to The Big Guy — and dropped them off in a special mailbox that will send them directly to the North Pole — there was entertainment by Bowey the Clown, who did magic tricks and made balloon animals, and had the kids roaring with laughter.
And then it was time for the big moment.
“Santa is arriving up on Powell hill and the fire truck will go up and get him,” Dennis said. “We have a couple of guys feeding the reindeer and cleaning up after them. When it’s over, Santa will go back to the North Pole.”
It’s Santa’s busiest time of the year, of course, but he took time out from his super busy schedule to meet with the kids, take photos, and listen to their hopes and dreams for the holidays.
Keegan Minshell, 5, had his wish-list all ready to go before Santa got to the firehouse.
“I like the presents!” Keegan said. “I want a new scarf and a gel-fire Nerf gun and a WWE game and a hoodie.”
Keegan came to the event with his Nana, Nancy Minshell, and his five-year-old cousin, Eliza Jane Minshell.
“This is their first time coming here,” Nancy Minshell said. “They are very excited and they are looking forward to sharing their lists with Santa Claus.”
And because he’s, well, Santa Claus, there were also gifts for each and every child even though Christmas was still a couple of weeks away.
Auxiliary President Mary Ann Dennis and her team provided the Jolly Ol’ Elf with a little bit of help along the way.
“We raise money with our fundraisers, and the fire company helps out, too,” Mary Ann Dennis said. “The auxiliary raises a little money here and there, but a lot of it goes to a scholarship that we offer to high school kids, so sometimes our funds are a little low. When they are, we ask the fire company and they pitch in, which they did do this year.”
Caitlyn Brooks brought her two kids to Lunch with Santa and said it was a great way to start off the holiday season.
“They were super excited to come,” Brooks said. “We came a couple of years ago and they enjoyed it, so we came again.”
Her daughter, Jacquelyn Cordero, 12, had her eye on the refreshments.
“I like the cookies best — I like the marshmallow-chocolate ones,” Jacquelyn said.
Auxiliary member Adele Thayer was ladling out punch and said the kids’ enjoyment made it all worthwhile.
“I am doing this to see the smiles and happy faces of the children enjoying Christmas and Santa and having a great time over the holidays,” Thayer said.
Before Santa headed back to the North Pole to get ready for his whirlwind world tour on Christmas Eve, he had a few words of wisdom for his young fans.
“Be good, do good in school and make your mother and father happy by doing chores around the house,” Santa said with a twinkle in his eye.
Here are more photos from Saturday’s event:
