The holiday tradition cannot happen this year with social distancing requirements but the event organizers say they are going to find a way to bring Santa Claus to town.
ROCKLAND — There will still be a North Pole in Rockland this year at the Magoun-Biggins Funeral Home. Santa Claus will still visit, although how he can do that while maintaining proper social distancing is still being worked out. But the holiday stroll that packed downtown Rockland for the past 25 years, normally scheduled for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is canceled.
"Almost everything we do couldn't be done," organizer Pam Murphy said. "It was kind of a no-brainer."
Want news like this sent straight to your inbox? Head over to PatriotLedger.com to sign up for alerts and make sure you never miss a thing. You pick the news you want, we deliver.Gov. Charlie Baker's pandemic restrictions eliminate street festivities that "canned it right there" while there are also restrictions on the size of crowds.
"It was a tough call because we didn't want to make the call," she said. "We kind of had no choice. It was for the benefit of everybody and we just called it off for this year, with the social distancing, the mask situation, we couldn't have Santa taking pictures and we were not going to ask businesses to pack that many people in."
Murphy said she made the final and official decision when she announced it, with her fellow organizer Daniel Biggins, at the Sept. 15 selectmen meeting.
"We had consulted with the board of health and done all our homework and it isn't fair to people, to business, to the people who participate, to ask them to come in and do this with no social distancing, no safeguards," Murphy said. "It was too risky for people, especially the kids."
This is only the second time the holiday stroll has been called off. The first time was because of bad weather.
"We're pretty sad, but we'll do it bigger and better next year, I guess," Murphy said.
Biggins said his family has decorated their funeral home as the North Pole for the past 10 years and he will continue to decorate it, even if the stroll can't happen.
"It breaks my heart to have to postpone it but I know it will be bigger and better next year," he said.
Murphy said she will figure out a way to bring Santa Claus to town this year.
"One option is to have a drive-by Santa Claus," she said. "Another, the most popular option, is to have Santa go around town with a police escort. We're working with the fire and police chiefs on that."
Biggins said no matter how it happens, something will be planned for the children.
"It's such a special time of year and a chance to experience the magic of the holiday," he said. "We may not deliver it like we did last year or will next year, but we intend, within the new parameters, to still make it an experience that's magical."
Reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite can be reached at wcowperthwaite@patriotledger.com
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Rocklands holiday stroll canceled - The Patriot Ledger
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