Forget the sleigh, Santa rides a Guilderland firetruck

I thought that when I carried a firefighter down a ladder during training from a second-story window without dropping him or falling, that that would be the highlight of my volunteer firefighting career.

Then, when I was crawling around on my belly, holding onto a tool connected to another firefighter, who was connected to a wall in a pitch black, smoke-filled room and successfully found and “saved” the simulated human body, I thought that would have to be the highlight of my career.

However, in both cases I was wrong. The highlight of my firefighting career to date has to be playing Santa for the Guilderland Fire Department’s annual Santa’s Ride. What a blast.

The Guilderland Fire Department does a “Santa’s Ride” every year. The town is large enough that there are actually two Santa’s Rides and two separate routes on the same day when we do this.

Even with two rides going on at the same time, it still is a solid four-hour commitment. That’s four solid hours of driving around in fire apparatus, handing out toys to kids and candy to adults, plus the hours of preparation before and the cleanup after. It’s a huge endeavor and I applaud the officers of GFD for making it go so smoothly.

I’ve never played Santa in my life before, but once you put on the costume, including the wig, beard, and hat, you just get right into it. Unfortunately, my red pants kept falling down all day.

I mean I’m not exactly svelte at this point, but next year I’ll use suspenders for sure. If I keep my diet clean until then, I’ll even stick a pillow under my shirt to give me that really authentic Santa look as well.

We had one vehicle as spotters ahead of us, while we rode in one of the firetrucks. When the spotters would see some kids or families, they’d radio us the location so we’d be prepared.

When we arrived, I’d get off the rig, offer some “ho ho hos,” and then reach into my big red bag to hand out an appropriate toy. We had dolls for girls, Matchbox cars for boys, and little stuffed animals with sewed-on eyes (no buttons) for infants. We even had coloring books and puzzles for older kids.

Sometimes I’d guess a kid’s age wrong. The water must be good here in Guilderland, as we have a couple of really tall 7-year-olds in town! But all in all, I have to hand it to the Guilderland Fire Department for making sure that every kid got something. How great is that?

I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for kids. I have four of my own and remembering those days when they were small is one of my favorite pastimes.

You should have seen the look in the little girls’ eyes when I handed them those dolls. The same with the little boys and the toy cars. To think that such simple gifts could spark such happiness; it doesn't get any better.

Here’s a tip: I’ve seen kids spend more time playing with the empty cardboard box that the toy came in than with the toy itself. Kids have amazing imaginations. They can make toys out of almost anything. Perhaps this year, consider spending less on toys and more on their college fund. Just a thought.

At one point during the ride, the officer instructed us to pull up in front of an ordinary looking house. He knocked on the door, went inside, and then a moment later indicated that we should join him. Turns out it was a group home.

They were not interested in any gifts, but they wanted to see Santa. I know there is controversy about group homes. Some people don’t want them in their neighborhood.

But when I went in there, there was nothing to dislike; in fact, I was extremely proud that this clean, quiet, unassuming home exists in Guilderland. There were some very disabled folks in there, being taken care of with great respect and decency by very concerned caregivers.

I went around and ho-ho-hoed everyone and wished them a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. I was able to get a bunch of smiles out of them, and if that’s not the greatest gift I’ve ever received, I don’t know what is. Really.

Let me take a moment right here to repeat something I say all the time: In my whole life, whenever I’ve volunteered for anything — anything ! — I’ve always gotten much more out of it than I’ve put into it. That is just the God’s honest truth.

At another point in the ride, we stopped into the dispatcher room at the police station. In case you don’t know, this is where your call goes when you dial 9-1-1. We in GFD use them heavily, but they are also key for police and EMS.

So we decided to drop in and give them thanks for another great year of service. When you’re in there, it looks like the command center for a spacecraft. So much technology.

There were two lovely female dispatchers working at the time. We thanked them but we could only stay for a minute, as some pretty serious police calls were coming in while we were there.

It is just incredible to me that these dispatchers choose this kind of work and handle it so, so well. I’m impressed by their confidence, their capability, but mostly by their performance under pressure.

I’ve dealt with them at 3 a.m. many times on a fire call and they don’t miss a thing. We here in Guilderland are very well served by these dedicated professionals, without doubt.

During the ride, we stopped for kids and adults, of course, but we also stopped for dogs. Turns out one of our officers is a “dog whisperer.”

Why do I say that? Because he carried dog treats with him and quickly made friends with each and every dog we saw.

In fact, one dog was not a fan of me, or Santa, or both, as he barked relentlessly at me and only calmed down when our dog whisperer took over. I’m sure glad he was along for the ride! Santa doesn’t like getting barked at or bitten, haha.

After getting on and off the truck at least a hundred times, we finally made it back to the station, where a soup-tasting put on by the auxiliary awaited us. It was the perfect way to cap off what was a very satisfying yet tiring effort.

Thanks to the commissioners and officers of the Guilderland Fire Department for keeping the Santa’s Ride tradition going. It was great fun and I can’t wait for next year’s ride.