Santa's Sleigh Ride 2007

Santa's Sleigh Ride 2007
As tradition Santa and his faithful Reindeer headed out on Saturday 12/22/2007 on a mission to spread Christmas cheer around the area.
This year there was a total of 12 motorcycles which worked out very well for our group not getting separated as much. We had 9 Reindeer, 4 Elf’s and Santa. Two of the Elf’s were passengers and two were riding.

This year on the ride we had Rudolph (Coupe), Comet (Dan), Cupid (Rich), Dancer (Larry), Donner (Joe), Vixen (Ben), Dancer (Robert), Prancer (John B), Blitzen (Ed & Sheila his waving Elf), South of the canal Elf (Mark), Blocker the Bad Elf (Hollywood & Lori his freezing Elf) and Santa (Kent).

We departed Santa’s workshop and headed to downtown Newark and then towards Middletown to spread Christmas cheer. This year we decided to keep it local so we deviated from our normal route of Rt 202 so we could do a loop and make two passes through downtown Newark.

Coming into the Newark on our first pass we picked up Blocker and Sniffles his freezing Elf. As usual People on Harley’s wearing antlers on their helmets with Christmas music coming out of most of the motorcycles gained a lot of attention. Before you could blink an eye camera phones and cameras were drawn like a six shooters in the old west to take photos of Santa and his Reindeer.
Sitting in the back of all this is really quite a sight to see as the crowds faces brightened with joy and children of all ages stopped and gazed in amazement.

From Newark we were on our way to Middletown. Once we got on Rt 896 and past Rt 40 the speed started to pick up and the traffic wasn’t so heavy. I gotta tell you, there’s nothing like doing 60 MPH wearing a Santa Claus outfit!
Just before the Summit Bridge I noticed Reindeer heads bouncing and bobbing around because of the large quantity of pot holes all over the road. Before you knew we had two lanes of motorcycles traveling in single file to avoid the holes. As I said before, there’s nothing like sitting in the back and watching this. No one called for this to happen but this is what happens when you ride with friends and they know what to do. It’s like watching a choreographed performance as the motorcycles split into two single file rows and back together after we passed the pot holes on the other side of the bridge.

Once we arrived in Middletown people were coming out of the small stores to see the motorcycles and we received many thumbs up in appreciation for the Christmas cheer we were spreading. People sitting in traffic didn’t seem to mind all the sudden. Rudolph lead us through one of the strip mall parking lots where some people started clapping and taking photos while others just smiled.
I never noticed this before but it seemed like we were a huge hit with the 55 and older crowd as you could truly see the pure joy in their eyes as we rode by.

After passing through Middletown and on our way back towards Newark I noticed something within our group. Sheila the cheerful waving Elf was having a great time and held steady as she was waving to passers by almost the entire length of our ride.
I guess that’s the other part of our riding together doing this ride. Not only are we spreading Christmas cheer to strangers but we get a lot out of it ourselves and it showed as people drove past as she smiled and waved to everyone continuously for over 70 miles.

Arriving back in Newark traffic was a little heavier this time and it gave people a chance to ask questions. The one that stood out the most was a man and his wife pulled up next to me and told me how great it was that we were out doing this ride. They said they never would have thought they would see people riding motorcycles wearing antlers and a full Santa suit just to bring joy to others. My response to them was “This ride wouldn’t happen if I didn’t have great friends”. Their response was “The best people are on two wheels” I told him I agree.

My many thanks go out to everyone that participated in the ride this year and years past. I hope we can continue this tradition for years to come.