Will Santa Ride A Fire Truck Or A Garbage Truck During The Lodi Parade Of Lights?
LODI (CBS13) — Two city departments in Lodi have been fighting over who gets Santa Claus in the annual parade, but peace appears to be on the way.
Last winter, Lodi's traditional Christmas fire truck froze up. They weren't going to let it go.
"Brand new engine. They got an engine from another manufacturer and built it from the ground up," said fire union member Michael Alegre.
They spent $30,000 to bring the 1967 engine back to life, upgrading it from manual to automatic. The fire union says the money came from Lodi's small businesses and residents to help get the truck ready for Lodi's annual light parade.
"It's just what Christmas should be all about," he said.
With the truck ready for Santa, firefighters were told they were too late. For 30 years, Santa rode with firefighters, but they were told this year would be different—Santa will be riding with Waste Management.
The Chamber of Commerce says it put out a mass email asking departments to sponsor Santa's ride. Waste Management was the first to respond and got Santa.
"That was our spot," Alegre said. "It's been that way for 30 years and now all of a sudden it's not. It doesn't sit too well with us."
The firefighters' union says it never had to pay for Santa before and feels the people who donated to fix the truck would want Santa with the fire department.
"It kind of feels like the rug was pulled out from under them," he said.
Complicating things, Santa can't appear twice in the same parade. While he can bring presents to millions of homes each year, he can only appear once per parade. After all, it wouldn't be fair to all the other parades.
But after a discussion involving City Hall, it's been decided Santa will ride with the fire truck after Waste Management gave the jolly old elf back, no strings attached.
