A Great Tradition: Santa’s Ride Through Town Was Tremendous, Once Again

We have many great traditions that cover all the seasons in Winthrop, but one of the most memorable, year in and year out, is Santa’s ride through every corner of our tiny community on Christmas Eve.

As always, it seemed that the entire town of Winthrop turned out for the event Monday night. Scores of children at every street corner anxiously awaited Santa’s arrival and then screamed with peels of delight when the jolly fellow in the red and white suit and the white beard finally made his appearance in their part of town.

It is a wonderful tradition that, by our count, has been in existence in its current form since 1959, a span of move than five decades that has made Christmas so special for generations of Winthrop residents. Indeed, among the first organizers of Santa’s ride atop a fire truck was a future Winthrop Fire Chief, Charles Flanagan, whose sons today are among those who play key roles in preserving this tradition.

Our special thanks go out to all of the Winthrop firefighters who have continued to make Santa’s ride through town a uniquely Winthrop event on Christmas Eve. In particular, we would mention Chief Paul Flanagan, Dennis Boudrow and Richard Schwartz, Chris Saggese (head of the Firefighters Local 1070), and Chuck Flanagan, who was none other than Santa himself.