Christmas '82 a merry time — and Santa was everywhere (photos)

For Dee Seidel, Christmas meant roast wildfowl and pumpkin pie.

Denise Fisher and Jennifer Sacarakis looked forward to songs with homemade carolers.

George Clark, a retired Rotterdam policeman, was grateful for good friends.

They were all part of events in the Capital Region in December 1982, as many looked forward to holiday celebrations.

Seidel was at the Saratoga County Museum at Brookside, and was able to tell visitors about the foods people ate during Christmases past. Denise and Jennifer were just kids — but they loved hanging out with the carolers in front of Denise’s house in Clifton Park. Joan and Jerry Fisher had built their old-fashioned singing group from used beer balls, wood planks and cloth.

Clark was 90, and had been out of uniform for many years. He was glad to see current members of the department for the latest briefings. The visitors included a Santa Claus that looked a lot like Town Justice Edward Longo.

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Christmas 1982 Scrapbook

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He gets around

Santa was in other places, too. The man in red accepted the loan of a C-130 transport plane from the Air National Guard’s 109th Tactical Airlift Group. The mission for Airman Claus was delivering gifts to children at the St. Regis Indian Reservation near Massena.

Santa also checked his list of naughty and nice in Colonie and Schenectady. Kids in Schenectady — and slightly older “kids” from the Rotterdam Kiwanis — delivered toys and food for folks who needed a hand 30 years ago.

The holidays were coming. And everyone was in a merry mood.

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