Published December 24. 2025 06:32AM<\/p>\n
Joint departments host new holiday event for families<\/p>\n
Some traditions only get better. Such is the case of Catasauqua\u2019s annual Santa Run.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, Santa would ride on a firetruck and deliver to residents\u2019 houses. Safety and time restraints made the fire company rethink how Santa could better serve the community.<\/p>\n
Having a spacious firehouse at the municipal complex, 90 Bridge St., and the enthusiasm of Catasauqua and North Catasauqua fire departments allowed the traditional gift giving with Santa to expand into a new holiday experience, held Dec. 14.<\/p>\n
North Catasauqua Fire Chief Roger Scheirer and Catasauqua firefighter Sam Safadi explained how the event accommodated the residents as well as encouraged community involvement. St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church donated craft activities and fresh-baked goods for participants, Weis Markets provided refreshments, and Wetherhold Photography offered free photos with Santa.<\/p>\n
Firefighters were on hand to help distribute gifts and give children an up-close and personal view of a firetruck.<\/p>\n
A huge asset for families was that they could arrive anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to see Santa and enjoy the activities. Refreshments of baked goods and snacks filled a table, and hot cocoa flowed freely. Families could stay as long as they chose and leave when they were ready. Scheirer reported more than 100 residents participated in the event.<\/p>\n
Given the obvious success of this year\u2019s holiday party, there is no doubt there will be another event like this next year. Safadi said community merchants and civic organizations have already approached him about participating in next year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTOS BY JENN RAGOFirefighters from Catasauqua and North Catasauqua gather with Santa during the Catasauqua and North Catasauqua fire departments\u2019 holiday party Dec. 14 at the fire station, 90 Bridge St., Catasauqua.<\/p>\n
North Catasauqua Police Department Cpl. Steven Santiago stops by to see Santa.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTOS BY JENN RAGOAbbey Walsh, Kim McCurdy and Dillon Hartranft, members of St. Mary\u2019s Catholic Church, volunteer as helpers at the Catasauqua and North Catasauqua holiday party Dec. 14 at the Catasauqua fire station, 90 Bridge St.<\/p>\n
Elijah Rojas, Jaden Garcia, Xavier Rojas, Andra Dotterer, Kayden Davis-Blockson, Cindy Koehler, Josh, Kayla and Maverick Tiuchty enjoy the event.<\/p>\n
Kristi Keller and Pandora Chico enjoy the holiday party and check out the firetrucks.<\/p>\n
Scott Koehler playfully poses for a photo at the event.<\/p>\n
Jessica Mankos, a volunteer from St. Mary\u2019s church, helps at the craft table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published December 24. 2025 06:32AM Joint departments host new holiday event for families Some traditions only get better.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-71360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71360","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=71360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}