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Swampscott Yacht Club members dressed as Santa crowd the bar at Mission on the Bay as they raise more than $2,300 for Toys for Local Children during their first SantaCon Pub Crawl Friday night. (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

Swampscott Santas turn pints into presents

Zach Laird

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SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott Yacht Club hosted its first SantaCon event Friday evening, which saw a small army of Santa Clauses participate in a pub crawl down Humphrey Street, with proceeds going to Toys for Local Children. 

The night began with the group of local Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and even a Grinch rallying for a picture by the huge, colorful lobster trap-themed Christmas tree outside Town Hall. Then, they traveled across the street for their first stop of the evening, Mission on the Bay.

Yacht Club Commodore Mary Webster said that around 95 people had purchased tickets to participate, resulting in $2,300 being raised that evening.

“We’re really excited. I think the people who bought tickets showed the goodness in their hearts. All the money goes to Toys for Local Children… It’s just an awesome cause,” Webster said. “We’ll do it again next year, and hopefully the event will be even bigger.”

Webster cited help from Yacht Club Social Committee member Derek Farias for putting the event together.

Farias noted that supporting families in need during the holiday season is “the coolest part of the event.”

“We have a great community here. The restaurants welcomed us with open arms to help out the kids; it’s a really fun event… My hat’s off to the people who came out here in the cold weather, and I really appreciate everyone’s positive attitude who helped out,” Farias said.

Bill Sullivan, a member of the Yacht Club, said it’s a great feeling to help support a good cause.

“It’s awesome that we get to hang out and do a bar crawl that benefits children in need. I know we focus on them a lot this time of the year, but really, we should think of other events throughout the year,” Yacht Club member Joe Maldonado said.

Another Yacht Club member Holly Schmidt said, “We’re very blessed to live in this town, it’s a really strong community… And it makes me feel great that we can do something to help kids.”

After their first stop, the group made its way further down Humphrey Street before breaking off into smaller groups to divide and conquer the many stops along the way. Stops along the way included places like ThaiRiffic by the Sea, Cafe Avelino, Little G’s, the Dockside Pub, and Njord Haven.

Afterwards, they concluded the evening at the Yacht Club, which featured live music from local artist Timothy Costello.

Yacht Club Rear Commodore Christopher Swartz shared his thoughts on the event.

“The SantaCon pub crawl is something that is great for the community. It’s a lot of fun, but more importantly, it’s a charitable event that’s proceeds are going to Toys for Local Children,” he said. “During tough economic times like these, it’s nice to have an organization that we can support.”

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