RUSSELL -- Around supper time on Christmas Eve, when the youngest members of local families had yet to be tucked in for the most special night of the year, a half-dozen members of the Russell Township Fire Department arrived at the station.
The alarm hadn't sounded. There was no emergency. Still, these volunteer firefighters had a duty to perform, a very pleasant one, true, but a duty to be taken as seriously as any rescue mission.
They came in to fire up the Santa Claus Express.
Every Christmas Eve for the past 23 years, Russell firefighters have taken community service to another level by filling in as Santa's helpers, assisting the jolly gent in visiting local kids.
Many young Russellers believe Santa comes to town aboard a fire truck, not courtesy of sleigh and reindeer.
SANTAS APPEAR
As the current crop of volunteers checked the tanker and pumper twice to ensure they were properly decorated, two of the firefighters disappeared, only to be replaced by two Santas in full regalia.
There are actually two expresses every year, with each Santa taking half the territory.
"It's the only way we could get it all done before the kids are put to bed for the night," said volunteer Dwayne Bourguignon who drove the tanker this time out. "We have to be careful the two expresses don't end up on the same road together. We don't want the kids getting confused."
No rickety sleigh and unreliable tiny reindeer for Santa on his Russell and area tour! No, the overweight elf and his back-up go in style, riding high, spotlights in place, sirens wailing and emergency lights flashing.
As always, the children scampered to doors and windows, their parents in tow, to watch Santa pass by, to hear the promising "Ho, Ho, Ho." In some cases, they rushed right out to the truck to deliver their last-minute lists.
Because Santa Claus Express volunteers are local, they often know whose homes they're passing and say there's nothing that astounds a child more than Santa calling to him or her by name from the top of a fire truck.
And the adults aren't forgotten. Last year, recalled volunteer Bruce Armstrong, Santa climbed off the truck and went right inside a home to hug a woman who had just lost her husband to a heart attack.
What is now a cherished Russell tradition started by fluke after the fire department was asked to escort Santa to the village arena for a special event.
Legend has it that when the crew arrived and found nobody there, the decision was spontaneously taken to drive Santa around town for awhile. That drive has been expanded and repeated every year since.
Firefighters always keep their fingers crossed and, to date, an emergency has never clashed with the express.
"If we had a situation, with two trucks on the road, we'd already be part-way there," Bourguignon said "Santa would just climb down and get to work."
Russell Fire Department