Santa's Monogrammed Sleigh Draws Attention In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — Santa has a custom sleigh on Main Street in Bel Air. It is the second year the sleigh has been out, but this year it is in a more prominent location.

When it made its debut in 2019, the sleigh was in the courtyard of the Bel Air Reckord Armory.

Due to the coronavirus, Santa visits were held in a new spot for 2020.

"This year we moved the sleigh up the street near the courthouse just to entice people more to walk on Main Street," said Mary Chance, who is on the board of Bel Air's Winter Wonderland Committee.

Instead of sitting on Santa, children met with him along Main Street in front of the Circuit Courthouse.

"Santa was there giving them candy canes and standing behind them getting his picture taken with them," Chance said. "People lined up and waited for their kids to have that experience. Some of the kids gave the kids their letters [to Santa]."

Santa visited on Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Literally hundreds and hundreds of people came out," said Chance.

"What we did this year because of COVID, we had volunteers there to wipe down the sleigh between each group of people that got in so parents felt comfortable," she said.

"I was one of the volunteers that would wipe down the sleigh," Chance told Patch. "I turned to the right to look down Courtland Street two Saturdays ago, and I couldn't see the end of the line. It was more successful than we could have ever imagined."

Chance is employed by Jones Junction, which donated the sleigh. The company is also a main sponsor of the Bel Air Winter Wonderland activities, funding things like carriage rides and lights.

"Kiddos were so happy to see Santa and ride in a carriage," Chance said. "It was extremely successful and made us all smile a lot."

The Bel Air Community Foundation, Jones Junction and the Winter Wonderland Committee help make the lit-up and festive downtown possible for the holidays, according to Chance.

"Because everything is free, we can't do it without sponsors, and we also can't do it without volunteers," Chance said.

Volunteers strung more than 60,000 lights from the Bel Air Reckord Armory to the Harford County Circuit Courthouse the week of Thanksgiving.

After this year, Chance said the plan is for the Winter Wonderland to expand even more.

"We have bigger and better plans for the upcoming years, and we really are hoping to do more to include Bond Street and keep expanding it so people can really experience downtown and come and shop," Chance said. "We want to people to come into Bel Air."

Santa's sleigh will be out through the end of December in front of the Harford County Circuit Courthouse, 20 West Courtland Street, Bel Air.

See Also:

• Winter Wonderland In Bel Air Dazzles Amid Difficult Time
• Winter Wonderland In Bel Air: Lineup Of 2020 Events
• Free Parking In Bel Air Offered For Holiday Season
• Christmas In Bel Air Website Has Events Listings For Season