Santa’s Ride stops at Mason Crest Elementary School

Santa greets students at Mason Crest.

Santa Claus dropped in for a visit at Mason Crest Elementary School in Annandale Dec. 12, but arrived on a Harley rather than a sled.

Santa, along with Mrs. Claus, Frosty, and Rudolf, handed out candy canes to students in preschool through first grade, as their entourage – motor pool police officers from Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office – collected toys donated by the public for hospitalized children.

The annual Santa’s Ride event has been going on since 1988. In addition to Mason Crest, the group visited the Fairfax County Government Center and a handful of schools, including Holy Spirit School in Annandale and North Springfield Elementary School. A separate team covered the northern area of the county. The group filled a van with toys that had been dropped off in donation boxes.

It’s a big operation with high school students, employees from local businesses, and members of Explorers Clubs sorting the toys. On Dec. 13, Santa and his helpers will bring some of the toys to children at Fairfax Inova Hospital, and the following day, they will deliver more toys to children at the Georgetown Hospital Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Toys not handed out this week will be distributed to children throughout the year to keep their minds off being in the hospital, and some will be given to local charities, such as Life with Cancer.