Since Santa was not able to see all of the Valley’s children during the Main Street Bank Fantasy of Lights Parade in this year, one Wheeling council member has made arrangements for the jolly one to be driven along many streets in several Elm Grove neighborhoods this Thursday evening.
Ward 6 Councilman Dave Palmer was able to contact the North Pole and actually speak with Santa Claus.
“Mrs. Palmer has contacts all over the world, and she was able to contact Mrs. Claus,” Palmer explained. “And she was able to put me into contact with the jolly ol’ fella, and he agreed to take time out of his very busy schedule.
“He will arrive in Elm Grove on Thursday at 6 p.m. and do a drive-by along many of our streets,” he said. “Now with Santa being very busy, especially at this time of year, he’s not going to have time to stop to talk along the route, and he doesn’t have time to hit every street. But he will drive by and wave to all of the children while he is riding in the back of a red, Savage Construction truck.”
The Route
While Santa will not have the time to cruise along every street in Ward 6, he will appear on many of the roadways so those who reside along ones not covered can still trek to one nearby.
The drive-by will begin at 6 p.m. and will travel according to the following schedule (all times are approximate):
- 6:00 pm – Santa will begin on Louisa Ave. at Parkview. He will travel across Louisa to Hornbrook then up Springdale Ave. to Decatur, cross Decatur and down Taylor Ave. to Lincoln Drive.
- 6:13 pm – Santa will arrive on Lumber Ave. to Hickory St., then down Overbrook Ave.; he will then travel to Cadillac Ave., Packard Ave. and Lincoln Ave. Santa will then make his way to Burkham Court and travel the A, B and C streets.
- 6:20 pm – Santa will travel across Monroe Ave., up Cracraft Ave., down Forest Ave., up Halsted Ave. and down Webster Ave.
- 6:30 pm – Santa will arrive travel across Junior Ave. to Lava Ave. and circle through Hil-Dar and then head to Idabelle Ave.
- 6:40 pm – Santa will travel on East Cove Ave. to lower Gaewood and turn onto Fernwood Ave. and then travel down Delwood Ave. turning onto Ainswood and Brentwood Ave. Then Santa will cruise along Elm Crest Drive.
- 6:55 – Santa will travel the streets of Sherwood and Courtland in Mil-Acres and then move to Glen Hollin and Winter Ave. in Mar-Win.
- 7:10 – Santa will enter Jones St. and travel onto the 400 block of Kruger St. turning onto Patterson Ave. then over to Sycamore Ave., Kruger, Paxton and lower Marshall Ave., back onto Kruger, down Columbia, up Center crossing Kruger and continuing on Center to Key Ave., and upper Marshall Ave.
- Santa will then head back to the North Pole.
In case of inclement weather, Santa will arrive on the 11th.
A Second Chance for Santa
The annual parade along Main and Market streets was canceled after Erikka Storch, president of the Wheeling Chamber of Commerce, received advice from Howard Gamble, the administrator of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department. At that time, Ohio County was designated “Orange” on the state’s COVID-19 alert map, and since then the numbers have dropped the county into “Red.”
Students attending Ohio County Schools once again will not be permitted to attend in-person classes this week and instead will utilize online learning platforms.
“Watching the way of the world these days in 2020, and knowing that there are going to be a lot of little boys and girls who are going to be unable to go visit Santa this year, we thought this would be a nice idea to bring Santa to them,” Palmer explained. “The drive-by also will help Santa plan his very busy night that’s coming up here in just a few weeks.
“Of course, he doesn’t want to miss anyone’s house, so while he is in the area, his reindeers will be above him mapping the course,” the council member added. “We may not be able to see the reindeer up there, but they will be up there, and they will be plotting the course.”
