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Many Lancastrians yearn for Christmases past, when Santa made his annual arrival by climbing a ladder to get into the Watt & Shand department store on Penn Square.
Their nostalgic wish will come true Nov. 27, when the jolly fellow returns to the roof of what is now the Lancaster County Convention Center and Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.
But just how he will get there is being kept under (Christmas) wraps. It will only be revealed to those who await him downtown that night.
The city fire department will be involved with Santa's arrival, fire Chief Tim Gregg said.
But just how the toy-toting hero will get here is "top secret," Gregg said, smiling. "I don't even know."
"He'll be on the roof, and that's all we'll say," said Valerie Wagner, special events manager for the Mayor's Office of Special Events, which orchestrated Santa's return.
Santa first arrived at Watt & Shand in 1946, in a convertible during a posh parade that included Macy's-style helium balloons.
The following year, Santa again passed up the reindeer in favor of an open cockpit plane which landed at Lancaster Airport. The rosy-cheeked fellow was then driven to town.
Each year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, his bells jingled from various vehicles including a train, a wheeled sleigh pulled by eight mechanical reindeer and, of course, fire engines.
Though his transportation varied, his destination did not. Old St. Nick always ascended to his throne in the third-floor toy department of Watt & Shand to greet good little girls and boys.
When The Bon-Ton bought the store in 1992, it kept the welcome mat out for Santa. But when Bon-Ton closed its downtown doors in 1995, the bearded man needed a new place to land.
Since then, he's arrived at Penn Square by ladder truck; at the Mayor's Holiday House by horse-drawn carriage; and on the roof of the Prince Street Garage by helicopter.
But there's no place like home.
The convention center and hotel — which are now behind the facade of the former Watt & Shand building — will set out the cookies and milk for Santa this year.
"It has been such a tradition here in Lancaster ... the fact that we can bring back this iconic event ... we're absolutely delighted," Marriott spokesman Joshua Nowak said.
"I really think it'll bring a lot of people back downtown," Chief Gregg said.
A lifelong city resident, Gregg has warm memories of Santa's visit to the beloved department store.
"I can remember being a real, real little kid and watching Santa arrive," Gregg said.
When he was 6 years old, Gregg watched as firefighters fought a blaze at the Conestoga Bank building as Santa waved from the rooftop across the street, he recalled.
The fire department has traditionally assisted Santa's arrival, though not usually by fighting fires. Over the years, firetrucks have carried him to the square in parades and aided his climbs and descents from rooftops, including that of Watt & Shand.
But since 2003, public works employee Mike Thomas, 62, of Mount Joy Township, has been the man who makes the real magic happen.
Thomas makes sure Santa's suit is cleaned, that his beard is trimmed, and that his belt rests just right on his jolly belly.
Thomas' wife, Kathryn, knows Santa better than anyone, he said. She even knows that Mrs. Claus sewed Santa's toy sack.
Santa's arrival will be part of the annual tree-lighting ceremony in Penn Square on Black Friday, Nov. 27. There will not be a parade.
The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. and include performances by the First United Methodist Church handbell choir and A Tuba Christmas.
Santa will arrive at 7 p.m. He'll help Mayor Rick Gray light the tree and then be escorted from Penn Square to a gingerbread house in Binns Park.
That's where children, seated on his lap, can whisper their wishes until about 9 p.m.
Children, adults and pets can also meet Santa at the gingerbread house from 6-9 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and noon-3 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 20. Snapshots with Santa cost $2.
Jeannette Scott is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact her at jscott@lnpnews.com or at 291-8689.
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