From the Berlin Citizen:

It was a magical thing. It was awesome and the way things should be, said Chief Mark Lewandowski talking about the Santa Express.

The special delivery by Santa via a Kensington Fire Department vehicle brought some un-forgettable joy to nearly 40 Berlin families this Christmas.  The kids were jumping up and down, Lewandowski said of the excitement the crew encountered as they brought presents to good boys and girls all over town. The Santa Express was conceived over the Thanksgiving break as a fundraiser event for the fire department located on Farmington Avenue. For $20, a family could have the fire engine come to its house and have Santa deliver presents. These were dropped off previously by the parents at the fire house. The fire truck was decked out and served as Santa’s sleigh and the firefighters filled in for the elves.

This was the first year the fire department tried the Santa Express fundraiser, but it was such a hit, it’s almost certain to be back next holiday season. We’re going to make this bigger and better, Lewandowski said. It’s been crazy the last three nights, Lewandowski said last week. We had a great time. The families and kids were so excited.” In some cases, several families got together to await the Santa Express. Lewandowski said it was a nice change of pace to visit people when they were happy and not during an emergency situation.

It was a way to reach the community and have a little fun for our members, Lewandowski said. Our members had a great time doing it and we got a lot of positive feedback from folks.  As it turned out, an alarm rang in to the fire station every night during the fundraiser, but everything was under control. There was a group of firefighters on standby at the Kensington station and the other fire companies in town were also covering in case of an emergency.

As for the Santa Express, Lewandowski said, “There were smiles on everyone’s faces. We hope to do it again next year.