Santa Claus to visit Ham Lake neighborhoods

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by Eric Hagen
Staff Writer

Jolly Old St. Nick will be coming to Ham Lake neighborhoods late next week. He won’t be going down the chimney though. This time he will be sitting on the top of a fire truck.

Santa Claus will be appearing in Ham Lake neighborhoods from Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3 along with volunteer members of the Ham Lake Fire Department. File photo by Eric Hagen

The Ham Lake Fire Department for a number of years has partnered with Santa Claus to make it possible for him to visit kids weeks before Christmas. As he waves from the top of the fire truck, volunteer firefighters pass out candy canes to the young boys and girls.

Santa and the firefighters will start in southern Ham Lake Thursday, Dec. 1 and finish in northern Ham Lake Saturday, Dec. 3. They will be out from about 6 to 9 p.m. each evening.

The first evening Dec. 1, they will go as far north as 145th Lane and all the way to the southern border of the community.

The second evening Dec. 2, they will concentrate on areas between 146th Avenue and Constance Boulevard.

The third evening Dec. 3, they will go from Constance Boulevard to the north border of the community.

To make Santa’s trip as efficient as possible, the fire department asks that children and their parents walk to the end of their driveways or the entrance to cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets in order to receive the candy canes.

To help out those in need, the firefighters ask that people donate a food item that can be given to the North Anoka County Emergency (NACE) Food Shelf. These food donations will be picked up when candy canes are being handed out.

Eric Hagen is at eric.hagen@ecm-inc.com