Chris Rosenblum: Alpha Fire Company’s Santa Run a present for community, kids

Years ago on a snowy Christmas Eve, two small boys resisted going to sleep.

They were too excited to go upstairs. Around they raced in their pajamas after hanging their stockings, ignoring their parents’ warnings. Santa Claus was coming, but if they were still awake when he arrived, he might not stay.

Their words fell on distracted ears — until from the end of the street arose such a clatter.

Everyone looked out the front door, and to their wondering eyes appeared a fire engine bedecked in lights, with Santa waving from the top through the falling flakes like a snow globe come to life.

Up the stairs our sons flew.

And the Alpha Fire Company’s Santa Run continued on its merry way.

As long as we’ve been in our neighborhood, 15 years now, we’ve been fortunate to share in one of our community’s treasures: Alpha’s annual holiday gift to families. Each Christmas Eve, firefighters become emissaries of the big guy, sending two convoys of decorated fire engines across the Centre Region.

Frequently, the rolling “sleighs” pause to hand out candy canes to children and the young at heart gathered in smiling clusters along sidewalks. Canine onlookers receive dog biscuits.

Then with waves and honks, the convoys roll along — hard to dash away in several tons of steel and chrome — to deliver tidings of good cheer to the next stops.

It’s a tradition going back at least 25 years, credited to then-Assistant Chief Tom Hand. Families have come to look forward to it — and so do Alpha’s firefighters.

“It’s probably one of the single greatest things we as a fire company do,” said Andrew Prestia, an 18-year Alpha member and a longtime Santa Run participant. “I don’t know how I would spend my Christmas Eve if I wasn’t doing that.”

In the beginning, it started humbly: trips to a few company members’ homes to rescue a stranded Santa from a roof. Like a certain famous belly as winter approaches, Alpha’s yuletide cruises grew. Routes started small, an engine and a truck at first touring selected neighborhoods with children in special need of holiday cheer, but evolved over time into a festive procession winding along for miles.

Now, responding to demand for their visits, the company sends out two convoys. Each consists of a fire truck, engine, at least one fire police unit for traffic safety and, of course, Santa, who due to Christmas magic, can be in two places at once.

One convoy travels through western side of the region, the other the eastern. Routes cover about 38 miles and, starting at 4 p.m., take nearly five hours to complete.

Getting ready for it all has become a major undertaking.

On Christmas Eve, firefighters begin preparing at the downtown State College station at 8 a.m. Member Dennis Hampton; his wife, Valerie; and their daughter Aliana are already there. They open up the place, showing up before dawn to fire up a hearty breakfast and provide the fuel for stringing nearly 5,000 lights on a single engine. For good measure, they also cook lunch and dinner throughout the day.

Firefighters, however, do receive plenty of assistance. Before the grand day, bulbs are tested by residents sentenced in court to community service for misdeeds — a huge help to the company and a ticket to avoiding a stocking full of coal.

Local businesses donate thousands of candy canes and some of the lights, and the food for the station meals is also provided.

On the day itself, firefighters’ families, Penn State students in town for the holidays and local volunteers bring extra sets of hands and plates of goodies, turning the station into a Christmas party.

“There could be enough baked goods in the fire hall to feed a battalion,” said District Judge Carmine Prestia, a veteran Alpha member whose two sons, Andrew and Chris, followed him into firefighting and the Santa Run.

An amateur radio operator, the elder Prestia devised a 21st-century twist to the tradition a few years ago. With another member of the Nittany Amateur Radio Club, he set up a tracking system via the Amateur Reporting Position System and two battery-powered amateur radios linked to Global Positioning System satellites.

Every 15 seconds, the system updates the convoys’ locations. Residents can follow the firefighters by visiting www.aprs.fi. Alpha’s website, www.alphafire.com, provides specific instructions for logging in, along with maps of this year’s routes.

As a result, families can determine where and when to see Santa. Many show up bearing gifts — cookies, coffee, even cash and checks in envelopes.

“This is the single biggest PR thing that the Alpha Fire Company does,” Carmine Prestia said. “It garners more goodwill than anything we can do.”

The feeling is mutual. Firefighters consider it a privilege to spend hours on the road every Christmas Eve, often returning to their homes well past midnight.

“This is our way of saying thank you to the community we serve, and for all the support they give throughout the year,” Andrew Prestia said.

For next year, he said, the company is thinking of adding a third route, but that probably would stretch Santa’s magic to the limit.

“We get a lot of requests,” Carmine Prestia said. “We can’t go everywhere. God, we’d love to, but there isn’t enough time in the day, and there isn’t enough apparatus.”

On Thursday, Santa and his Alpha elves again will turn into as many streets as they can. For one night of the year, firefighters will pull up to warm greetings, not flames, and people feeling happy rather than traumatized.

One child’s joy can make all the expense and effort worthwhile.

Firefighters once saw a boy who arrived late, desperate to see Santa as the convoy started to drive away. He ran through the snow barefoot and in shorts, his parents scrambling to catch up with his shoes.

The convoy halted. Santa broke with protocol. He climbed down from his bucket to give the boy a hug — an unforgettable present for both.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Chris Rosenblum: Alpha Fire Company’s Santa Run a present for community, kids."