Beverly VFD brings Santa and friends to local residents

BEVERLY -- Bright flashing lights and the sounds of sirens typically means something has gone wrong. Unless, of course, you live in the town of Beverly, where it means Santa Claus is coming to town.

For the second straight year, the Beverly Volunteer Fire Department escorted Jolly 'Ol Saint Nick and a host of Christmas characters around that portion of Randolph County on Tuesday night.

"We really enjoyed hosting this event for a second consecutive year," Beverly Volunteer Fireman Zach Moyer told The Inter-Mountain. "Everything went well last night and the response from the community was outstanding."

Joining Santa on the route were the Grinch, several elves, reindeer, snowmen, a gingerbread man and Cousin Eddie from the movie "Christmas Vacation." The tour featured two separate fire trucks with two different Santas.

One truck left the fire department and made a stop at Lavender Fields, where Santa visited with residents from the facility. From there it made stops at the Beverly mobile home park and then Burgess' mobile home park before heading up Scott's Lake and down Files Creek.

The first stop for the second fire truck was at Canterbury Place. From there it went up Kings Run and over to Dotson Run. It finished up the route by going down Beaver Creek Road and up the Back Road to Dailey.

"We had the fire truck sirens and lights going out on the backroads so that everyone knew we were coming," Moyer said. "It was great seeing the kids run from their houses when we were coming down the road. We were driving really slow in case they weren't already outside – that way they had enough time to come out and see Santa."

Moyer said during the trucks' stops along the route, children would visit with Santa and all his friends, and receive candy and tell Saint Nick what they wanted for Christmas.

"It was great seeing all the kids come out and visit with Santa," Moyer said. "I was really shocked with how many kids told Santa that they didn't want anything for Christmas other than to be with their family. You would never think that a little kid would say something like that. It was special to hear children saying that."

The fire department handed out close to 80 candy bracelets and two grocery bags full of candy canes during the trek. Moyer said the department plans on continuing the tour with Santa in the future.

"Everyone we visit really loves this and all of us at the fire department love doing it," Moyer said. "We are definitely going to continue to do this for years to come."

Moyer said the Beverly Fire Department wants to thank everyone who helped with the event. He said the BVD also wants to thank everyone who came out to see Santa and his helpers, and wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.