BUCKHANNON – You can’t stop the ‘Claus.
Thanks to the Buckhannon Fire Department, Santa Claus visited Buckhannon kids last weekend and now plans to spread holiday cheer to youth in the rest of Upshur County. The fire department announced the good news earlier this week on their Facebook page.
The Buckhannon Fire Department will be escorting Santa throughout Upshur County Saturday, Dec. 12. Buckhannon Fire Chief J.B. Kimble said the tour though Buckhannon went well, so they wanted to give everyone in the county a chance to see Santa.
“COVID has changed a lot of things, and we wanted to see how it went before we did anything else, so when we went through the city, and it seemed to be pretty productive and people liked it,” Kimble said. “We just decided our whole county needs something to pick them up, and it really gives everybody something to look forward to and the kids can wave at Santa.”
Santa will be on the back of a pickup truck and escorted by various fire departments as he goes through each fire district.
“When we go into somebody else’s fire district, we’ve already checked with the other fire departments, and they’re going to escort us in with a fire truck, and then escort us out, and then we’ll go to the next,” Kimble said. “We’ll go into Hodgesville, and then Washington District (Tallmansville area), French Creek, and Rock Cave, and those individual fire departments will be involved because we didn’t want to leave them out.”
Please note times are approximate:
- Noon – Valley Green Apartment Complex
- 12:45 p.m. – Hodgesville Elementary School
- 1:30 p.m. – Union Elementary School
- 2:15 p.m. – Washington District Elementary School
- 3 p.m. – Buckhannon-Upshur High School
- 4:15 p.m. – French Creek Elementary School
- 4:45 p.m. – Rock Cave Elementary School
On their Facebook page, the Buckhannon Fire Department noted that the times are not exact, and although start time is 12 p.m. sharp, Santa could be running late depending on the amount of people who come out to wave at him.
Kimble said the department wanted to give the Upshur County community something to look forward to, while also social distancing and wearing masks.
“It just shows everybody that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, Christmas is here, and it gets people out for something to do,” Kimble said, “but we still want them to socially distance, we still want to follow guidelines and wear masks.”
Santa’s tour through the southern end of the county, in particular, will likely be welcomed by kids and families there, as the Southern Upshur Business Association’s/Banks District Volunteer Fire Department’s annual Christmas Parade, which usually falls on a Saturday morning in December, had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
Please stay tuned to the Buckhannon Fire Department’s Facebook page for any updates or changes.
