Story and photos by Carol Montana
Children squealed with joy as The Santa Express pulled into The Corner at Eldred on Saturday, December 12. And their parents and grandparents were delighted as well.
Brainchild of Lou Monteleone, general manager of The Corner at Eldred, The Santa Express is a 50-foot lighted, musical sleigh, complete with sound system, generator, GPS and nearly 5000 twinkling lights.
On board, the children found Santa and Mrs. Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, The Gingerbread Man, The Christmas Mouse, lots of elves and the Snow Queen – singing sensation Alyssa Startup. Also onboard were lighted reindeer, trees and wreaths.
Every child received a toy from Santa, and reindeer food from the elves. And everyone got to accompany the Snow Queen in a holiday sing-a-long.
Also at The Corner in Eldred, the children and their families visited Santa’s Village.
After stopping in Eldred, The Santa Express headed down Proctor Road to Glen Spey, then made its way over to the Four Corners in Yulan and arrived for the final stop in Main Street in Narrowsburg. And along the way, hundreds of people lined the road or waved from their windows as they greeted Santa and his friends on their 50-mile journey.
At each stop, children were encouraged to put their letters to Santa in the onboard mailbox.
“It was the night I live for,” said Monteleone. “The kids with the smiles warmed my heart.”
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at Santa’s Village at The Corner in Eldred on Tuesday, December 15, Friday, December 18, Saturday, December 19, and Sunday, December 20. All nights from 5:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m.
To see more photos or to purchase prints from The Santa Express, visit The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.
The Catskill Chronicle 
Carol,
Thank you for being one of the few papers that saw it worthwhile to cover this magical event. I really do appreciate it.