Elgin volunteers prepare for Operation Santa this Christmas Eve.
By Garrett Christensen on Thursday, December 7th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
ELGIN – It’s that time of year again. The spirit of giving has settled in for the season, and a group of dedicated local volunteers are going above and beyond. As is tradition, volunteers of the Elgin Rural Fire Protection District and ambulance service are getting ready for this year’s Operation Santa.
For those unfamiliar, Operation Santa is a cunning plan devised and hosted by Elgin’s EMS volunteers to ensure every home in town gets a gift delivered personally from the jolly red man himself. Starting out as just a fun visit from Santa to the Elgin Opera house some 50 years ago, the operation has gradually been expanded over the decades to include over twenty volunteers delivering gifts across Elgin.
Each year, volunteers prepare roughly 1,000 goody bags containing candy and toys and take to the streets dressed as Santa to deliver them. These rural Santas depart at 4:45 on Christmas Eve and split up to handle different sections of Elgin, usually split into four quadrants. An additional “roaming Santa” is sometimes specially dedicated to handling the larger apartment buildings in town.
How volunteers decide where to deliver is simple. Any house or residence that leaves their porch/front lights on is marked for a visit from Santa. Anyone that would like to have Old Saint Nick stop by should remember to leave their porch lights on Sunday evening.
In this way, not only do families get some extra goodies for the holiday season, plenty of kids get a personal visit from Santa on Christmas Eve. The latter perk is a highlight for many volunteers, with Elgin Rural Fire Chief Kevin Silvernail remarking:
“I just get a kick out of seeing little kids’ faces peeking out from behind the curtains, waiting for Santa to bring them something.”
The program itself is entirely donation funded and volunteer run. For those interested in supporting future operations, monetary donations can be sent to PO BOX 431 in Elgin. The rural pancake breakfast hosted each year during Riverfest Weekend also provides some funding.
