Adults and kids alike love the man with all the toys, and diners inside Logsdon’s at the Santa Paula Airport even started to glance out the windows to see what the excitement was all about. Although unable to hear Santa’s hearty “Ho-ho-ho!” over the whirl of the helicopter’s blades, he was a magnificent sight, albeit a tad short of his famous reindeer.“Santa arrived in Santa Paula briefly after 7 p.m. from the southwest, turned at Santa Paula Airport and headed due west to Ventura,” City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz posted on the city Blog. “He was heard to exclaim as he sped out of sight, ‘Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!’ “Charlie McLaughlin of Aspen Helicopter started the Santa flights in the early 1980s. Every year the lighted Santa and his sleigh “flies” for approximately 90 minutes. His Christmas Eve route originates at the Oxnard Airport, heads toward the beach areas of Oxnard Shores and Port Hueneme, then loops through Camarillo and out to Saticoy, on to Santa Paula, back to Ventura and then home to the North Pole, AKA Oxnard Airport.
Aspen Helicopter: Santa cruises Santa Paula on Christmas Eve
January 03, 2007
Santa Paula News
Santa watchers gathered at the Santa Paula Airport and throughout the city on Christmas Eve, hoping for a glimpse of ever-popular Old St. Nick, who for the second year in a row did a preliminary fly over to check his gift-giving route.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSanta watchers gathered at the Santa Paula Airport and throughout the city on Christmas Eve, hoping for a glimpse of ever-popular Old St. Nick, who for the second year in a row did a preliminary fly over to check his gift-giving route. Aspen Helicopter, based in Oxnard, has been flying Santa Claus over various areas of Ventura County for decades, and Santa Paula was added to the route last year.“He’s coming,” 6-year-old Nick Rainwater of Santa Paula, who was wrapped in a blanket to keep out the cold, said confidently from his perch at the Santa Paula Airport. “He’s here!” countered Nick’s 3-year-old sister Natalie, who jumped the gun on Santa’s arrival.
