The Flying Santa is the name given to a tradition that dates to

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

of 1929, when packages of gifts were dropped from a plane to

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

s and their families along the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

coast. The organization was the brainchild of William H. Wincapaw, a floatplane pilot from Friendship, Maine. He was well known for transporting passengers and cargo along the Maine coast. He frequently took to the air in less than ideal conditions to provide transport for sick or injured islanders. His actions were responsible for the saving of many lives. On many of these flights, his only means of navigation were the lighthouse beacons maintained by keepers along the coast. He had a great deal of admiration for these men and their families and felt that something special should be done to show them how much their efforts were appreciated. On December 25, 1929, he loaded up his plane with a dozen packages containing newspapers, magazines, coffee, candy and other items - small luxuries that could make living on an isolated island a little more bearable. He flew to lights around the Rockland area and dropped these modest gifts for the lighthouse families. So well received were his Christmas gifts, he expanded the program to cover more light stations and

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

stations throughout New England. Wincapaw did not initially consider himself a Santa Claus; the title was bestowed upon him by residents of the stations that he visited. Soon he was joined on the route by his son, Bill Jr., and by noted author

Edward Rowe Snow Edward Rowe Snow (August 22, 1902 Winthrop, Massachusetts – April 10, 1982 Boston, Massachusetts) was an American writer and historian. Life He was the son of Edward Sumpter and Alice Nichsols (Rowe) Snow. He graduated from Harvard University ...

. Snow participated in the program for over forty years before his retirement. The Flying Santa flights have continued uninterrupted, apart from one year during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, since 1929;

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s are now used instead of planes. Retired USCG

Chief Warrant Officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

Thomas Guthlein and retired Senior Chief David Considine are two of the people who suit up for the Flying Santa role today. The nonprofit Friends of Flying SantaFriends of Flying Santa
/ref> was established in 1997 to continue the flights primarily as a way of expressing gratitude for the work performed by the Coast Guard.

References

External links

History of the Flying Santa
{{Christmas Christmas events and celebrations Christmas in the United States Santa Claus Recurring events established in 1929

See also

References

External links