Santa stopped in Titusville for some hugs at annual celebration

"Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart, you just gotta poke around." This line from a Grateful Dead song comes to mind every time I cover a small town, especially when I'm trying to really learn what makes the place tick.

Well on Friday night there wasn't really a need to poke around too much - its heart was right in the center of town. People in Titusville come out. I noticed it earlier in the year when I photographed the bands in the park for The Titusville Herald, and later for their Oil Festival. People come out.

A few hundred folks lined the street for a small nighttime parade, a decades-long tradition. "It's not a long, long parade, but it's nice," Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce director Boo Maginnis said as the front of the procession wrapped around to the end 10 minutes after it started. 

"It's a collaboration between the city, god bless them, and the chamber," Maginnis said.

She was in the park manning the hot chocolate and cookie station with Corlene Dailey. "She's our main coco person," Maginnis said of Dailey. 

Then even before Santa made it down the first block of the parade, attendees were already forming a line to talk to Saint Nicholas. They stood in a line that stretched from the gazebo to the veterans' memorial at the corner of Scheide Park to get a chance to explain their wishes for the holidays. Some waited in line longer than the 30-parade lasted, but it left them time to converse with their neighbors.

And Santa was dedicated too. "(He'll stay) until they're gone," Dailey said.

​The night also included the mayor reading a proclamation in honor of Santa coming "to Titusville first to our little children."

He also declared Santa would receive priority clearance when flying over Titusville on Christmas Eve and reindeer will be given a variance to be in the city. He also promised "all Titusville children will be asleep no later than midnight" that day.

The park is lit with thousands of lights and 33 trees decorated by businesses, organizations and even a few individuals - a tradition begun in 2018 that keeps growing each year, according to Maginnis.

The nighttime parade offered a few spectacles, some dogs with Christmas light collars, Roman soldiers carrying torches and plenty of little queens and princesses.

Candy was thrown, as in most area parades; cookies and coco were handed out; but in the end, it was Santa they came to see.

Below are a few more scenes from Santa coming to Titusville.