By: Mike Rhodes—
Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!
The Tiny Adams Memorial Christmas Event for local children will be held this Saturday, Christmas Eve, from 11am to 5pm at the downtown fire station at the corner of Madison and Jackson Streets.
Eddie Bell, Chief of the Muncie Fire Department said, “We’ve done this for 22 years now. Every Christmas Eve from 11am-5pm, Santa stops by the fire station for FREE pictures with every child that wants to come. The kids get a gift, some treats and hot chocolate. Every year, we have hundreds of kids and parents who come, just to enjoy the environment. It’s just a great thing.”
Chief Bell said the annual program was started many years ago. The first year, they had 13 kids. In recent years, up to about 750+ kids and their parents come to see Santa.
One of Santa’s digital pictures gets printed out. The printer makes a few passes to achieve full color, before it is handed out to a child. Santa is very tech-oriented these days.
“Every year it gets larger,” he said. Each and every year we work through the local school systems and daycare centers to let people know about it. So, now we are really well known for this event.”
And just in case, if you’re wondering about Santa spending so much time in Muncie this Saturday, there’s no need to worry. He will get to your house. Last year, I was checking out his sleigh, and it has a 14,000,000 reindeer-powered (RP, not HP) triple-turbo engine. He can zip around at the speed of light.
The line to see Santa wrapped around the fire station at last year’s event. File photo.
