You Better Watch Out … You Better Not Cry …
You better not pout, and I’m telling you why … Santa Claus is coming to Coronado to make special deliveries. It’s true that any good little boy or girl in town, hoping for the chance to meet that jolly old soul in person on the busiest night of his year, can receive a personal visit from Santa sometime between 5 and 7 pm on Christmas Eve.
To receive a Santa special delivery, simply drop off one wrapped gift per child at Chase Bank in Coronado, clearly labeled with the recipient’s name, address, and phone number so Santa knows exactly where to land his sleigh. Located at 1000 Orange Avenue, drop-off times at Chase Bank are Wednesday, Dec. 17 through Friday, Dec. 19, and Monday, Dec. 22 between noon and 5pm, or Saturday, Dec. 20 between 9 am and noon.
This holiday season marks the 96th year that Santa has specifically visited local children around the Emerald Isle on Christmas Eve. Run entirely by Coronado Rotary volunteers, this program engages 15 or more local Santas, festooned from head to toe in plush red velvet, white fur-trimmed Ho! Ho! Ho! garb, each being accompanied by his own personal elf and either Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, or the most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph!
This tradition is legendary in Coronado, where stories abound about past Santa visits around town. According to one local historian, sometime during the early 1960s, Santa delivered a real-life, four-legged pony to a “shocked, surprised, awestruck, and thrilled” six-year-old boy living in Coronado.
More recently, on December 24, 2023 (as pictured above), Santa made a surprise visit to Alec & Nadiia Bagins’ home in Coronado, where they had very special guests — the Ohurtsovs family: Bohdan, Tetiana, and Emilia. The family had arrived in the US just ten days earlier, on December 14, 2023, through the Uniting for Ukraine program. It was their very first Christmas in America.
At the time, Emilia was six years old, and she was overjoyed to have Santa — or, as he is known in Ukrainian, Did Moroz (Father Frost) — visit her on Christmas Eve. She confidently declared that he was the REAL Santa because he belted out his “Ho, ho, ho!”
Two weeks later, Emilia turned seven and started first grade in Coronado. Now the Ohurtsovs live in Mission Valley where Bohdan and Tetiana run their own small businesses. In part, due to the welcome they felt that Christmas Eve, and the kindness they’ve experienced from others in the area, the family has assimilated into American culture and is thrilled to call San Diego County their new home.
Rotary Club of Coronado spreads the Christmas spirit – a feeling of joy, generosity, and goodwill, centered on love, kindness, and giving to others – throughout the year. With the motto of “Service Above Self,” Coronado Rotary is the oldest and largest benevolence-based non-profit in our community.
