“I grew up in Blaine,” said Battalion Chief Tony Scavo. “I remember Santa and the fire truck coming through my neighborhood when I was seven.”
It started out as one parade down every street in Blaine, but Scavo said that’s not possible. So the routes are divvied up among Blaine, Spring Lake Park, and Mounds View over four different nights: Monday, December 6 in West Blaine, Tuesday, December 7 in East Blaine, Wednesday, December 8 in the TPC Twin Cities and Lakes communities, and Thursday, December 9 in Spring Lake Park and Mounds View.
Courtesy SBM Fire Facebook page
“Last year was a record year for food collection for us,” said Scavo. “We had over 90,000 pounds of food collected, which is far above any of our previous years. We had a huge, huge outpouring in all three of our communities.”
The collected food goes to Hope Church in Blaine and Ralph Reeder Food Shelf in Mounds View.
“It’s a busy week,” said Scavo of the efforts to make sure each community gets great representation–and the fire stations stay staffed. “It’s a hard week, but it’s a very rewarding week, and by the end, Friday, (you) see the results as they unfold–it’s really rewarding and makes everything worthwhile.”
