Santa Claus will be delivering presents tonight to girls and boys throughout the capital city, but unfortunately due to the bad weather, he won’t be guided by Carson City sheriff’s reserve officers.
A long-standing tradition in Carson City where parents arrange a visit by Santa Claus escorted by reserve sheriff’s deputies, has been canceled because of the weather, said Carson City Sheriff’s Office Reserve Commander Tom Crawford.
"Santa will still make the deliveries in Carson City, but with the weather conditions, we can't be there with him this year," said Crawford, who coordinates the effort that requires dozens of volunteers.
Each Christmas Eve for more than 30 years, the reserve force of the sheriff’s office has made the pre-arranged trips to homes, where parents can take photos of Santa, elves and uniformed reserve officers around the Christmas tree. Last year, 86 families were visited by Santa, volunteer elves and reserve officers.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong apologized for the last-minute decision. He said many of the volunteer elves and reserve officers who make the Christmas Eve night trip to Carson City live outside the area and with the roads being as they are today and the potential for them to worsen tonight with cold temperatures, the decision was made cancel the Santa reserve deputy escorts.
The tradition will continue next Christmas Eve, said Furlong, with hopefully better road and travel conditions.