LUGOFF, S.C. — Santa is making his way to Lugoff neighborhoods this week to spread Christmas cheer!
That's right, the Lugoff Fire Department is hosting Santa for the annual the Santa Fire Patrol from 6 - 8 p.m. in select Lugoff neighborhoods this week.
Will Catoe, Assistant Chief at Lugoff Fire Department, said the event is a great one for the community. They put Santa on the top of the fire truck with sirens blaring and lights on as they head through the area.
Catoe says you can see kids faces light up, and parents also love the event. In fact, Catoe says one friend even schedules his annual trip to South Carolina around the Santa Patrol.
"Putting a smile on the kids' face just makes our whole year, and we love doing it," Cate said.
The event was suspended in 2008. However, after high demand, Chief Dennis decided it was time to bring back the annual event. The event continued to grow.
Catoe says when the event started, they assisted around eleven neighborhoods. Now, the some thirty neighborhoods get a visit from Santa.
With the area growing and more neighborhoods popping up, officials say they expect more to come in the coming years.
During the pandemic, Lugoff Fire decided they wanted to bring more cheer to the community, which was hard to do during the difficult times. Instead of having kids jump in Santa's lap to ask for gifts, they created a new event, Santa Land, with drive-thru visits with Santa.
The event allows people to drive through the bay into Santa Land to see Santa, Mrs. Clause and elves. That keeps kids from having to touch Santa but still be able to visit with him.
This year, the drive-thru Santa event will take place on Saturday, December 18th.