Santa Claus is coming to town, and this year, it is quite the destination.
For the ninth year, the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum will invite Santa Claus to meet with kids on Saturday in front of Southern Pacific Locomotive 1673 at the Historic Train Depot.
The transformation of the 20th century locomotive into the Holiday Express should whisk families into the nostalgia of Christmases past without leaving downtown. Kids can write letters to the North Pole with the help of elves from the Postal History Foundation’s museum, sing along with live music and catch a reading of “The Polar Express” and a showing of the film.
“Most of us get to the holiday season, and it’s getting in touch with who you were as a kid, regardless of age 20 or 70,” said Ken Karrels, the chairman of the museum, which is a division of Old Pueblo Trolley. “Some of us want to keep the tradition going of Christmas spirit.”
The retired locomotive was parked at Himmel Park until its move to the depot in 2000. The event is multigenerational, and Karrels loves hearing from parents and grandparents who remember the engine in its former home.
“The children who will be visiting on Dec. 21, 2013 as babies, their parents played on that train,” Karrels said. “They say, ‘I remember when that engine was in Himmel Park. I played on it, and my parents told me to get off of it.’”
The nostalgia goes even further back — the engine has quite the history. It appeared in the 1955 film “Oklahoma!”, and Karrels also discovered a photograph circa 1929 showing Santa Claus at the Tucson train depot. Santa, it seems, started visiting the station long before receiving an invite from the museum.
When Santa visits today, Tucson is a different city, but even with restaurants and retail booming downtown, the Holiday Express joins a busy lineup of seasonal events that look back to tradition.
After visiting with Santa at the depot, families can check out the Downtown Parade of Lights.
This year, the one-mile parade route returns to the Armory Park neighborhood after a detour last year through El Presidio neighborhood.
The parade begins at 17th Street and Stone Avenue and heads north to Armory Park.
Before the parade begins, Mayor Jonathan Rothschild will light up a tree planted at the park about 10 years ago.
“Everybody who is in it has a great time,” said Brandi Haga, the parade coordinator with the Downtown Tucson Partnership. “You can go out afterwards. A lot of people envision sitting around and waiting for a parade, but it’s a day of activity.”
Performers from the Arizona Opera will share their talents at Armory Park for the tree lighting, and live music will keep crowds entertained until the parade arrives. Bleachers on Sixth Avenue near the park will offer seating for the public. Haga anticipates that attendance will reach around 15,000 to 20,000 spectators.
The parade, made up of local businesses and community groups, has about 80 entries this year. Some groups make floats; others walk. They all twinkle, lighting up the parade route.
Returning participants include the Accordion Club of Tucson, Old Pueblo Vintage Fire Brigade and BICAS (Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage), which will escort the parade’s guest from the North Pole.
There’s enough going on to make a day of it. Other holiday events on Saturday include the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker at the Fox Tucson Theatre and the Holiday Art-Mart at Hotel Congress. Santa Claus will also be cruising downtown in a horse-drawn carriage.
“It adds an element to a day downtown,” said Haga. “You can ride a horse-drawn carriage in downtown Tucson with 15-story buildings above you. You’re in an old carriage, so it’s both modern and past.”
