If you hear a lot of fire whistles next weekend, it may actually be a good thing.  The Lake of the Woods Volunteer Fire and Rescue will be ushering Santa around Locust Grove neighborhoods for a quick visit before he heads off to the North Pole for his final holiday preparations.

Santa will be waving hello as he rides a fire truck visiting Lake of the Woods, Walmart, Sheetz and Food Lion parking lots on Friday December 17th beginning around 5 p.m.   On the 18th he will return to visit the other half of Lake of the Woods, Sheetz, Food Lion and Walmart parking lots again. 

Santa will visit Wilderness Shores and Somerset on Sunday December 19th

Visit the Santa Tracker at on their website to see when he will ride by your home.  The route is tentative based on weather and service calls, so the website is the best way to tell when Santa is heading your way.