Jolly jaunt: Santa to hit the road with local firefighters

SANTA will make a special visit to children across the Bellarine Peninsula on Christmas Eve with the help of the region’s local CFA fire brigades.

This year the brigades in St Leonards, Drysdale, Portarlington, Walllington, Barwon Heads, Leopold, Ocean Grove and Queenscliff will be helping Santa travel the peninsula to visit as many children as possible on Sunday, December 24.

St Leonards CFA First Lieutenant Clark Maronian said the local brigades look forward to the Santa Run each year.

“Santa and his helpers will be out on Christmas Eve in the big red fire truck handing out lollies and bringing some cheer to the community.

“Communities across Victoria have come to know Santa on the fire truck for years. It’s something that I even remember as a kid.

“It’s almost a part of the Christmas tradition now.

“We love the reaction from the community and the kids. Everyone is so excited when the fire truck comes up the street and Santa’s there waving.”

In Portarlington the Santa Run will start at 2.30pm on the corner of Newcombe Street and Fenwick Street.

In Wallington, the run will begin at 4.15pm in Moorfield Park.

Santa Runs in Ocean Grove (Surf Beach), Barwon Heads (13th Beach Estate), and Drysdale (the Park on the corner of Nash Avenue and Candy Street), will start at 5pm.

Meanwhile, Santa and the CFA will begin their journey around St Leonards at 6pm at the playground on Regal Road and are due to arrive in Indented Head around 7.30pm.

The Leopold Santa Run will also start at 6pm.

Three runs are planned for the town, each taking a different route.

One will begin at Daisley Reserve Playground and conclude at Leopold Memorial Reserve.

The second route will see Santa will set out from the playground on Allambie Street and finish up at the playground on Grassland Grove.

The Leopold Primary School will be Santa’s first stop on the brigade’s third route and the Terrigal Court playground will be the final stop.

Then on Christmas Day, Santa will visit children in Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale.

The Queenscliff brigade will set out from the fire station 9am.

The first stop will be at the Recreational Reserve caravan park at 9.10am and the final stop will be at about 10.45am at White playground.

Across the region, Santa will spend approximately 10-15 minutes at each location before moving on.For the full list of Santa Run stops, head to the Facebook page of the local CFA brigade in your area.

Each brigade will do their best to get Santa to every location on time, however if there is an emergency, Santa might be slightly late or may not arrive at a stop.