Expand<\/a><\/p>\nNot only did he and dozens of other children get holiday gift bags from the Jolly Old Elf, but the youngsters also got a quick tour of a police vehicle.<\/p>\n
In no time, Brandon was sitting in a police vehicle, smiling with an officer was encouraging his mother to take a quick photo.<\/p>\n
Santa\u2019s arrival was part of the Scranton Police Department\u2019s \u201cSidewalk Santa\u201d effort, now in its sixth year.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania State Police and the city fire department also joined in the festivities.<\/p>\n
Santa joined officers at\u00a0 Laurel Woods Apartments and finished his day at the Keyser Oak Shopping Center, having greeted hundreds of children and assuring them they were on the \u201cgood list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santa and the officers arrived by trolley donated by Gilbride Limo to distribute goodie bags and coupons to children who excitedly made their way to the street in 11 different areas of the city, including several housing complexes.<\/p>\n
A bright spot in hard times<\/p>\n
Stephanie Brandon said the event \u201cmade my son\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to a bit of fun to kick off the holiday week, the event provided a very much appreciated holiday gift bag.<\/p>\n
In the midst of a year filled with economic challenges, every little bit helps to make the holiday brighter, she said.<\/p>\n
Brandon said she guessed the event would serve to strengthen her son\u2019s resolve to someday become a police officer.<\/p>\n
The spirit of Santa<\/p>\n
Former police officer John McNichols has portrayed Santa at the event for several years.<\/p>\n
McNichols embodies the spirit of Santa in looks and spirit. Many of those attending remarked that he looked like he truly had just made his way down from the North Pole for a special visit to the city.<\/p>\n
Sgt. Christopher Hallock, who organizes the event, said the program replaced the city\u2019s \u201cUndercover Santa\u201d program in 2020 and has continued to adapt to the needs of the community.<\/p>\n
For example, last year he made the decision to hold the program on a Saturday rather than on a weeknight. That means Santa arrives earlier in the day, which seems to work well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother goal if for children to see officers in uniform in a positive light,\u201d Hallock said. \u201cA lot of times when kids encounter police, it\u2019s when something bad happens. So, this is building a relationship and letting them know that we\u2019re someone they can go to if they need help.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program is supported by the Mueller Family McDonald\u2019s, local Burger King locations, and Manning\u2019s Farm Dairy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five-year-old Tyree Brandon hopes someday to be a police officer. So, when he first heard police sirens and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-66342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-lackawanna-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-scranton","13":"tag-scranton-headlines","14":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Santa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/STT-L-SANTA-1221-03.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Scranton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/STT-L-SANTA-1221-02.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Scranton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/STT-L-SANTA-1221-01-1.jpg?w=620\")
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