Hey Oakland, Who’s Your Santa? 11

(videos at bottom of post)
When they ask an Oakland resident, who’s your Santa? The answer is, he’s the real deal.

The warmth, charm and good cheer of the season’s original jolly old elf cannot be resisted, and even those Oakland residents disillusioned by a holiday season drenched in commercialism succumbed to the magic of the season embodied by the real Mr. Claus.

Unbeknownst to most people at the ceremony, arranging Santa’s visit to Oakland involved a lot of last minute efforts. Residents Lou, Anne and Will Piombino were instrumental in contacting family members who live near the North Pole – and they in turn made a personal appeal for Santa to visit Oakland.

The situation became more complicated when Santa arrived at an undisclosed location in Oakland –  and tore his suit on some trees while navigating a landing. Another Oakland resident, Cathy Schneckenberg came to the rescue and was able to repair the iconic red suit.

Finally, in order to get Santa and his elf  to the event on time, the Oakland Fire Department sprung into action and raced Santa through the streets of Oakland to deliver Mr. Claus and his elf to Veteran’s Park – safe and on time.

Originally planning an immediate return to the North Pole, the enthusiastic greeting by the Oakland crowd inspired Mr. Claus to join in further festivities at Valley Middle School where he signed autographs, posed for pictures, and then instructed his elf to retrieve a bag of presents from the sleigh; Santa merrily distributed hundreds of gifts to Oakland children.

The Oakland Public Events Committee had arranged for lite refreshments to be served in the Valley Middle School auditorium, and the crowd was also treated to an assortment of local entertainment.

The MC of the evening, Ryan Schwertfeger, introduced the Ramapo Valley Youth Choir, the Gerrard Berman School Choir, Let’s Dance of Oakland, and the Rising Phoenix Martial Arts School of Oakland.

As for the lighting ceremony itself, the bells were ringing at Ponds Church as a crowd gathered around the newly planted Christmas tree in Veterans Park  – which was donated by PAPS Landscaping just in time for Oakland to ring in the 2012 holiday season.

Rabbi Kaplan of Chabad Jewish Center Franklin Lakes and Pastor Julie from Messiah Lutheran Church welcomed the crowd with seasons greetings of peace and good will.

The Gerrard Berman school started off the real festivities with a song as the crowd readied to begin a countdown for the lights of the Christmas tree and Menorah to be officially lit.

After the switch was flicked, the voices of children and adults could be heard breaking out into a chorus of Santa Claus is Coming to Town which set the stage for – of course – the event’s special guest, Mr. Santa Claus himself.

Additional photos by Anne Piombino:

Collage 1 Click Here, – Collage 2 Click Here, – Collage 3 Click Here, – Collage 4 Click Here, – Collage 5 Click Here

Lighting Ceremony Video

VMS Song & Dance Video