Firefighters carry on Santa tradition

If you live in Gilberts, Sleepy Hollow or unincorporated Rutland and Dundee townships and you hear sirens wailing and a truck headed down your street this weekend or the next, there may not be cause for alarm.

The Rutland-Dundee Volunteer Firemen's Association will hold its annual Santa Run beginning Friday afternoon

and running through next weekend.

The department and volunteers will be driving slowly through neighborhoods to collect toys - new and unwrapped - and food for needy kids and their families.

Firefighters also will tow a sleigh for Santa, giving kids a chance to meet with the big guy and finalize their lists.

When the tradition started in the 1970s, it took firefighters two days to complete. Now it takes six outings.

Organizers acknowledge the recession might affect what people can donate.

"Some families might be hurting. All we can do is hope for the best," said 8-year firefighter Jason Schiller, who also is president of the Rutland Dundee Volunteer Firemen's Association.

• Beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, the department will visit the several neighborhoods on the far side if Sleepy Hollow: County View Highlands; Lake Tera; Pine Cone Lane; and the neighborhoods of Frontenac, Little Acres and Binnie Road.

• At noon Saturday, they will visit Timber Glen and Timber Trails in Gilberts and at 4 p.m. Sunday it's Indian Trails, Dunhill Estates; Gilberts Glen and Woodlawn Meadows.

• At 5 p.m. Dec. 11, crews will visit Old Town Gilberts, the Gilberts Town Center and Windmill Meadows.

• At 3 p.m. Dec. 12, volunteers will visit homes in Sleepy Hollow that are west of Sleepy Hollow Road. At 3 p.m. Dec. 13, they will visit homes east of Sleepy Hollow Road.

For details, call (847) 428-3920.

If you miss your collection date, you can drop off toys at Fire Station 2, 11 E. Higgins Road, Gilberts.

"People do it all the time," Schiller said. "They come by with canned goods or whatever."