Lodi Fire sponsors snapshots with St. Nick

Looking to create more opportunities for children to take pictures with Santa, the Lodi Fire Department will be hosting the inaugural Selfie with Santa event on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Lowe’s Home Improvement parking lot located at 1389 Lower Sacramento Road.

“A person in the department was wondering how often there is a chance to be able to take a picture with Santa here in Lodi,” Interim Lodi Fire Chief Gene Stoddart said. “There are not too many opportunities, and because we’re now established with our Santa truck, we figure this will be an opportunity to go out and make that available to people.”

Both Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in attendance during the event and Lodi firefighters will be serving up hot cocoa, Stoddart said. The event is free, but those wishing to attend are asked to bring their own cameras.

The purpose of the event is to spread the Christmas spirit, Stoddart said, adding that he hopes the children will experience the excitement he felt when he was able to meet Santa as a child.

“We’re surprised that this is the first time we’ve been able to do it, and on Facebook we’ve had a lot of views. We’re anticipating a large turnout,” Stoddart said.

He advised those planning to attend to arrive early, be patient and know how to use their cameras when it’s their turn to take pictures.

Stoddart said the idea for Selfies with Santa was also sparked by the response the department has received from its annual Santa truck rides.

The Santa truck rides have been a local tradition for decades. Each year for two weeks in December, Santa rides a fire engine through the neighborhoods of Lodi honking and greeting all the girls and boys. Firefighters walk alongside the truck handing out candy canes and collecting canned goods. Santa and firefighters are accompanied by music.

“Last year what we did was we started in a

parking lot. So instead of just driving down the street, we stopped in a parking lot each night and that’s where we had people lining up to take pictures with Santa, and it was just so popular that it actually delayed our Santa going through the neighborhood.”

Last year the department was able to collect a few hundred canned goods for the event but hopes to collect more this year. Canned foods will be collected at Selfies with Santa and during the Santa truck rides. The food will be given to local food banks and distributed to families in need. This year the Santa Truck will began riding through Lodi on Dec. 11. Santa will ride Monday through Thursday during the weeks of Dec. 11 and Dec. 18.

Routes for the Santa Truck will be available on the fire department’s Facebook page and the city’s website on Monday.