Community Corner

Filling Santa's Big Boots

Glenn Johnson takes on the huge responsibility that comes along with the iconic red suit to spread holiday cheer throughout Tolland.

If Tolland residents started to mistake their town for the North Pole, it wouldn't be too surprising. Santa Claus is always around Tolland during the holiday season, either driving the streets during his December tour or celebrating the tropics at the senior center's luau.

One life-long Tolland resident can be credited with spreading so much holiday magic: Santa's alter ego, owner Glenn Johnson.

"The spirit of Christmas has grown," Johnson said. "To me, it's a feeling that I can't tell you. When you go down the road and people wave at the fire truck, they wave with both hands. If you can put a smile on a person once a year, you can't put a dollar amount on that."

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Johnson took on the role of Santa Claus three years ago after members of the volunteer Tolland Fire Department asked for Johnson's assistance to build a sleigh that the department would use to tour Tolland during the holiday season. Johnson owns an autobody shop on Merrow Road.

Inspired by the countless number of hours the volunteer firemen put in, Johnson said he decided to fill the big boots of Old Saint Nick.

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"I looked at him and I said, 'I'll do one better,'" Johnson said to Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief Doug Racicot.

Johnson ended up donating the use of his shop, the sleigh materials and contributed to the 500 hours of labor needed to create his Christmas masterpiece. And after growing out his beard and purchasing a Santa suit, Johnson set out to spread holiday cheer to Tolland, with his typical enthusiasm.

"If we're going to do it, we're going to go in style," Johnson said, after the firefighters asked him to become Tolland's Santa.

And he wasn't kidding. This year alone, Johnson and members of the Tolland Fire Department drove down every street in Tolland over the course of seven or eight nights as part of the , complete with a decked-out fire truck and Santa's sleigh, which creates its own (soap bubble) snow showers. 

Kids can follow Santa on his journey with the live GPS Santa Tracker on the Tolland Fire Department website, and some special Tolland children even get to ride along.

"He's sitting right next to me on the sleigh, and I have my arm around him," Johnson said, recalling a special sleigh ride with a disabled Tolland child. "I'm trying to wave merry Christmas, and he won't take his eyes off me. After awhile he started to wave and say merry Christmas, too," Johnson said.

The excitement truly is contagious.

"We pull up and there's 26 high school girls screaming," he said, describing one of this year's tours. "We stop and give them candy. They all want their own picture with Santa."

In addition to the popular Santa tour, Johnson and his helpers from the Tolland Fire Department make stops at the , the , several holiday parties, nursery schools and preschools in nearby Willington and three different parades.

And despite the busy schedule, Johnson said he has bigger plans for the future, including a bigger and better sleigh.

"I'm always thinking of more," he said.

Johnson said that his dedication to volunteering has developed over the course of his life, most of which has been spent in his hometown of Tolland.

"The older I've gotten, my values in life have changed," he said. "It's more, helping people."

Johnson holds up that idea throughout the year. He also funded and to commemorate the tenth year of the Sept. 11 attacks, which he placed in front of his business on Route 195. 

But for him, all of the effort is essential to an important mission: making the world a brighter place.

"If we all did that, it would be a much better world."

Take a look at the joy Johnson has spread at the , and , as well as his to the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11. 


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