SALISBURY — No stranger to delivering toys to millions of children in good weather and bad, braving sub-freezing temperatures is nothing new for Santa Claus. With that in mind, St. Nick took a break from checking his list to join the Salisbury Fire Department on Sunday, Dec. 22, for a trip around town during the annual Santa Parade.
“We think it’s a great thing for the community. We know a lot of people enjoy it. We start getting emails and phone calls up to a month ahead of time for people asking what the route is going to be,” Salisbury Fire Chief Scott Carrigan said, last Thursday.
Carrigan has been a major supporter of the longstanding tradition that his department has held for the town for years.
“It’s something that I appreciate that our firefighters are not only willing to do it, but usually organize the whole thing and they take care of decorating the apparatus and making sure that it’s a fun event for everybody,” Carrigan said.
The parade, which features an appearance from Mrs. Claus too, is no quick jaunt.
“It takes several hours to complete,” Carrigan said. “It starts and ends at the fire station, but it makes its way through all the major parts of town, all the way from Rings Island down to the beach, up through the plains and into some of the outlying neighborhoods.”
Among those who enjoyed the parade was Selectman Terry Marengi, who said his kids have always loved attending.
“Matter of fact, when they were younger, we used to get in the car and we kind of followed them around to different spots, different friends houses, because they just absolutely loved to see it,” Marengi said.
Marengi said he has grown his own tradition of hosting a party each year at his home for folks to come enjoy the parade as it passes by.
“So on the end of our street, there’s both my mother’s house and my house covered with lights and all kinds of stuff. So we ended up having a big party every year, all the kids come down and the parade ended up making their way down,” Marengi said.
With the kids all being able to come out and say hi to Santa and Mrs. Claus, Marengi praised the stars the shows for their perseverance in the face of frigid weather.
“I’ve got to commend them for their bravery towards the eight degree weather. I mean it was 20 minutes while we were all waiting in anticipation and I was freezing and I’m like, geez, Santa’s doing all right,” Marengi said.
He said it is a great tradition and thanked the department for continuing to do it.
“I just think that it’s one of those things where for the kids, nothing is better than before to see Santa. And the parents, to be honest with you, the have parents get excited too,” Marengi said.
Despite arctic temperatures, everything went off without a hitch, according to Carrigan.
“The weather was good and it was a very good turnout from the public along the route,” Carrigan said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.