Santa Claus

Snowflakes in Huntington Beach. Well, not the real kind, but during the holiday season Surf City residents and visitors will be able to enjoy snowflakes that will be lit up along the pier and on Main Street courtesy of the Huntington Youth Shelter's fifth annual Light a Light of Love Pier Lighting. The celebration that kicks off the holiday season will begin with a parade at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, followed by the pier lighting at 6 p.m. Youth Shelter volunteers and city workers will put up all 54 snowflakes Friday and Saturday along the light poles of Main Street and the pier.

Huntington Beach is hosting Candy Cane Capers, a five-hour event for kids 6 to 12 years old. Kids will make holiday crafts, play games, watch a movie, sing carols and have a snack. Santa Claus will also be making a special visit. The event is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Murdy Community Center. Registration is $20 and can be done at the Murdy or Edison community centers. There is also a materials fee of $10 payable to the instructor. Registration forms are also available in the SANDS community service guide and can be dropped off at the fifth floor of the Civic Center.

Torus Tammer Fountain Valley bar owner Tony DeSantis has spent the last year nudging his customers to pony up spare pennies, nickels and dimes -- just so the children at the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center could receive a present this Christmas. The 66-year-old DeSantis, a child at heart himself, was noticeably excited as he dispensed stuffed toy lions to numerous bedridden children at the hospital Tuesday. Kathleen O'Brien, a hospital spokesperson, said what DeSantis and his loyal customers have performed is an incredible service for many.

Yes, Huntington Beach, there is a Santa Claus. No, no, we’re not reprinting the iconic “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial this year, but merely echoing the sentiment of so many neighbors of Golden West College who felt as if they got an early Christmas gift this month when the Coast Community College District board turned down an offer to build a Costco discount store on campus. It was a courageous move on the district’s part, considering it needs the money and the project could have offered 250 jobs, $1.75 million in rent for Golden West and $1.5 million in annual sales tax to the city.

Jenny Marder Four-year-old Johnny Siebel was greatly disappointed when Papa Duck took off his hat to reveal a human head. He thought that the man, who led the parade of end loaders filled to brim with thousands of ducks down the Huntington Beach Pier Saturday, was a real duck. Thousands of rubber ducks were launched off the pier and into the ocean Saturday and Sunday and more than $100,000 was raised at the 11th annual Duck-a-thon, to benefit the Huntington Beach Community Clinic, a medical center that provides care for low-income adults and children.

Santa Claus came early this year in Huntington Beach — and he came on a motorcycle. More than a hundred motorcyclists rode in the ninth annual Santa Ride on Dec. 24 to deliver toys to a local youth shelter. “The ride was fantastic. It was the best turnout we’ve had yet,” Greg Coleman, owner of the Huntington Beach Irish-style pub Fitzgeralds, said in an e-mail. Fitzgeralds collected donations of new, unwrapped toys and gifts for Orangewood Children’s Home, an Orange County shelter for abused or neglected children.

Woodrow Wilson was president in 1919, and that year proved to be a very special holiday for many of our residents. When the Armistice was signed in November 1918, most of our doughboys were still stationed in Europe and were unable to be with their loved ones for Christmas. So it was the next year that had the most meaning to everyone, when their sons came back home from the Great War. That year was doubly important to those servicemen, for the story of Christmas would hold a truer meaning because they had lived through a nightmare.

Jerry Person Since I wrote the two-parter about how Huntington Beach coped with the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, I received several requests for news on what else Huntington Beach did in those early days. Just one day prior to the attack, the city held its annual Santa Claus parade on Main Street. That year's theme was "A Salute to Santa Claus" and featured Huntington Beach Mayor Marcus McCallen as grand marshal riding down Main Street with the City's Assistant Fire Chief Del Burry.

I asked my mother once if I ever believed in Santa Claus as a child. She shook her head and replied, "You were always suspicious. " It was probably the sign of a budding journalist. Growing up, though, I knew quite a few people who did believe in the jolly red man — and I later came to wonder what it was like to play Santa, especially for a credulous audience. How did one respond to irrational gift requests? Were there any crisis situations that came up? So when I heard that Huntington Beach resident Tim Robbins was returning for his second straight year playing Santa in the city's annual downtown Tree Lighting Ceremony, I arranged an interview.