Santa Claus arrived on the North Olympic Peninsula twice on Saturday, giving up his reindeer in favor of a motorcycle and a fire engine.
In Sequim, the man in the red suit revved up to Bank of America Park, at Washington Street and Sequim Avenue, on a motorcycle to a crowd of waiting kids and immediately started posing for photos.
In anticipation of Santa’s arrival, the city lit its light display at the park Friday evening as part of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s “Holiday Harmony” celebration.
The sculpture, which contains more than 70,000 lights, was created by horticulturalist and Peninsula Daily News gardening columnist Andrew May.
A few hours after Santa was seen in Sequim, his “ho, ho, ho” could be heard in downtown Port Angeles, where a few hundred people gathered on Laurel Street to await his arrival.
Sipping on hot chocolate and nibbling cookies, the Port Angeles crowd listened to performances of the Northwinds Homeschool Band and the Hamilton Elementary School choir.
Just before darkness fell, a classic fire engine with its siren blaring arrived from the north, carrying Santa and two elves.
After Santa disembarked, Port Angeles Downtown Association Executive Director Arla Holzschuh led him by the arm through the crowd to a small stage.
“Merry Christmas!” Santa shouted to the children.
“Merry Christmas!” they shouted back in reply.
At the crowd’s count of 10, hundreds of colored lights twinkled as the community Christmas tree at the Conrad Dyer Memorial Fountain at First and Laurel streets was lit.
