SYDNEY, N.S. — Santa Claus is coming to town on Sunday.
“Santa will be arriving at the Dominion legion by helicopter at 2 p.m.,” said Mickey MacNeil of Mickey’s Original Six Society, which is hosting the event.
MacNeil said they wanted to do something nice for the children and know nothing excites children more than seeing Santa Claus.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be flown to the legion Sunday by Breton Air.
“Mrs. Claus is coming and it will be her first visit to Dominion,” he said, adding that Woodland Timber Mart in Glace Bay is covering the cost.
“Art Mullins is paying the bill and we think that’s a nice thing for him to do.”
Santa will greet children for about two hours.
Hot chocolate and hotdogs will be provided and the event is free.
Cape Breton Regional Police will be on the scene and members of the air cadets will be assisting with traffic control and parking.
MacNeil said this is a great project and they’ve received a lot of help.
“Breton Air has been fantastic,” he said. “Any businesses or person we talk to and mention Santa Claus and children they say, ‘What can we do?' You’re not going to get anything more wholesome than Santa Claus and small children.”
Parker Horton, CEO of Breton Air Inc., said they’re thrilled to have such a celebrity as Santa travelling with them.
“Santa Claus is the most exciting passenger we’ve ever had,” Horton said.
However, being close to a 4,000-km trip from the North Pole, Horton said it took some planning to make sure everything goes smoothly to get to Dominion on time. He said it’s difficult to find the North Pole so they’ll be linking up with Rudolph to be guided to pick up Santa.
MacNeil said to help entice the children, they are posting maps showing the flight pattern from the North Pole to Dominion at the Dominion Rink and various businesses in the community and around Glace Bay.
There will also be a mailbox at the Dominion Rink for children to drop off their letters to Santa. The mailbox will be taken to the legion on Sunday. MacNeil said Canada Post has partnered with the society through its Letters to Santa program. Helping Santa with his letters is a longtime Canada Post tradition. Children are reminded to add their return address to their letter.
“I’m going to make sure Santa has all the letters when he leaves,” MacNeil said.
The mailbox will be back at Dominion Rink until a week before Christmas.
MacNeil said he has to thank all those on the committee that put the event together including his wife Monica, Sgt. Gil Boone of Cape Breton Regional Police traffic division, Krista Dove with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality recreation and Paul Prince, president of the Dominion legion.
MacNeil said it’s the committee that has helped get the event off the ground. They were originally going to set up a tent on the legion grounds but Prince opened the doors of the legion to the event.
Meanwhile, Santa Claus said he’s equally excited about coming and encourages children to be good little boys and girls and to have their letters ready on Sunday.
“I always like visiting Cape Breton,” the jolly old man added.
In the event of inclement weather on Sunday, MacNeil said Santa Claus will make the trip on Sunday, Nov. 24.
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