Christmas at the firehouse is a very special time. It's great to be with the guys, but it's tough to be away from the kids and the family too. The fires and emergencies still come in and of course they take no holiday. Some firehouses are decorated and usually the Christmas Eve dinners are the best.
Sometimes if there's a hospital in the response area, the guys will get presents for all the sick kids in the hospital on Christmas Eve. Then a couple of off duty guys come in to take a spare rig up to the hospital with one of the guys dressed up as Santa Clause.
But prior to that, one guy usually calls the hospital to find out the kids ages, and how many boys and how many girls are there. A prior deal is set up with a local toy store to put aside those gifts and store employees volunteer to wrap them up. Then the guys get on the spare rig and they go to pick the toys up for delivery.
To deliverer those gifts to those sick kids is a special gift in itself. To see that smile on a young kid who has been so sick and hear them say: "Thanks Santa Clause", is a Christmas Gift in itself. It puts smiles on the families and nurses faces too.
But after years of use, that Santa Clause outfit was in need of replacement. So the guys buy a new Santa Clause outfit to be worn. But the year they buy it there is a new Firefighter/Santa Clause because the other guy who usually played Santa retires and moves away.
This new Firefighter/Santa Clause has all of the qualifications. He's got rosy checks, he can smile and he's even got the physical profile with a nice round belly.
I think it was Christmas Eve, 2002. Everything is all set. All the toys are ordered and wrapped. The rig is all cleaned up and two off duty guys are dressed and ready to go. A few cups of hot coffee while Santa gets dressed. Santa walks into the kitchen and everybody is ready to go.
BUT Santa says; "there's a little bit of a problem". Santa starts to tell the guys; "You know that brand new Santa Clause suit you guys got me, well I bent over to tie my shoes and "RIP" - right down the center of the crotch".
Yes, a brand new pair of Santa Clause 2 X Large Draws, split right up the middle. Of course EVERYBODY loved the Christmas Eve show. But as they say; "The Show Must Go On". So it did. Of course everybody was asking "why is Santa Clause walking so funny" ? But even with those ripped pants everything went great. Of course to this day, "the guys never forgot it".
Actually there's just a little more to the story. Guess who that Santa Clause was:
It was "NFD2004", aka Willy D.
Sometimes if there's a hospital in the response area, the guys will get presents for all the sick kids in the hospital on Christmas Eve. Then a couple of off duty guys come in to take a spare rig up to the hospital with one of the guys dressed up as Santa Clause.
But prior to that, one guy usually calls the hospital to find out the kids ages, and how many boys and how many girls are there. A prior deal is set up with a local toy store to put aside those gifts and store employees volunteer to wrap them up. Then the guys get on the spare rig and they go to pick the toys up for delivery.
To deliverer those gifts to those sick kids is a special gift in itself. To see that smile on a young kid who has been so sick and hear them say: "Thanks Santa Clause", is a Christmas Gift in itself. It puts smiles on the families and nurses faces too.
But after years of use, that Santa Clause outfit was in need of replacement. So the guys buy a new Santa Clause outfit to be worn. But the year they buy it there is a new Firefighter/Santa Clause because the other guy who usually played Santa retires and moves away.
This new Firefighter/Santa Clause has all of the qualifications. He's got rosy checks, he can smile and he's even got the physical profile with a nice round belly.
I think it was Christmas Eve, 2002. Everything is all set. All the toys are ordered and wrapped. The rig is all cleaned up and two off duty guys are dressed and ready to go. A few cups of hot coffee while Santa gets dressed. Santa walks into the kitchen and everybody is ready to go.
BUT Santa says; "there's a little bit of a problem". Santa starts to tell the guys; "You know that brand new Santa Clause suit you guys got me, well I bent over to tie my shoes and "RIP" - right down the center of the crotch".
Yes, a brand new pair of Santa Clause 2 X Large Draws, split right up the middle. Of course EVERYBODY loved the Christmas Eve show. But as they say; "The Show Must Go On". So it did. Of course everybody was asking "why is Santa Clause walking so funny" ? But even with those ripped pants everything went great. Of course to this day, "the guys never forgot it".
Actually there's just a little more to the story. Guess who that Santa Clause was:
It was "NFD2004", aka Willy D.