In light of precautions, mixed comfort levels, and concerns for fall/winter 2021, we will be offering Bedford residents to choose between EITHER a traditional in-home visit (with some restrictions) OR a personalized pre-recorded video.
Registration CLOSED on December 4th. We’re sorry, but with the additional planning and precautions, for the safety and sanity of our volunteers and community, we are not able to take late registrations this year.
Details:
If you registered for Pre-Recorded Videos: A short video will be emailed to you approximately a week before Christmas Eve, you are responsible to preview the video to make sure it works and is correct. Be prepared to play the elf and hide a present if you chose that option. Please show the child/children on Christmas Eve.
If you registered for In-Person Visit:
In-Person Visit Gift Drop Day will be December 18th, 9 am-5 pm at JGMS. Bedford Indoor Mask Mandate will be in effect, face masks are required of anyone over 3 years old. We may be changing additional protocols to encourage and promote safety for our volunteers and gift droppers. Please mark your calendars, prepare your gifts to be dropped off as in the past (See FAQs), but stay tuned for more information and instructions via email (check spam filter – add bedfordsanta@gmail.com to your contact list!), this website or onsite, and be patient with our volunteers.
Christmas Eve: Be home and ready for a visit, currently planning for our same window of 5:30pm-8pm. We may move things up to 5pm start to space out volunteers. Please have your pathways cleared of snow and ice, and well lit. Tie up your dogs. Be prepared to welcome Santa inside your home – we are not planning or promising outdoor visits regardless of weather forecast. Santa visits will be quick and must be under 10 minutes (likely 2-6 minutes). Only one picture allowed and no lap sitting!
Other information:
- Santas have been self-reported as vaccinated (but we are not asking for or providing proof of vaccination).
- Santa may or may not be unmasked (there is no town indoor mask mandate for private residences and we cannot restrict this). Each Santa volunteer will choose their own comfort level and preference.
- Santa will plan to enter the home and hand out gifts and talk to the children quickly as has been the tradition.
- We cannot plan for things like temperature, weather, lighting, so Santa will not plan to make outdoor visits, please be ready to invite Santa indoors (please choose the video option if you are not comfortable with an indoor visit.)
- Santa will NOT be sitting down inside this year and may only pose for one photo total (one group photo) to keep time and closeness limited. Sorry, there are no lap pictures allowed this year!
- Per Board of Health’s close contact advisories, visits may not go longer than 10 minutes, most visits will be 2-5 minutes long depending on the number of kids in the home (this is similar to the past).
- Please respect our volunteers and do not invite Santa into a larger party where guests may have had many outside close contacts.
- Visits will take place during the traditional Bedford Santa hours – 5:30pm-8pm on Christmas Eve. We may start visits slightly earlier this year if necessary to space out volunteers and allow sanitation measures between houses. Please check your email and the website for more details as we get closer, we will be monitoring local and state regulations and recommendations as well as our volunteer and registration numbers and evolving our safety measures.
- We cannot guarantee our plans this year and reserve the right for last minute changes and cancellations and also we may not be able to meet any registration requests after the December 1st, deadline.