Southeast : SANTA’S SLEIGH

Santa Claus soon will be ready to take his annual tour of Paramount--but not the way he usually does.

This year, Santa goes high-tech.

For 20 years, Santa has given out candy canes and apples from a sleigh atop the city’s four-car Christmas train. At various stops, children would walk up a portable ramp to meet St. Nick face to face while City Council members in elf costumes handed out goodies to adults.

This year, however, the city has spent $25,000 on a new hydraulic jack that lowers Santa’s sleigh to ground level, eliminating the risk that a child might fall off the ramp. The pump then raises the sleigh back atop the rail-free train before it heads to the next stop.

This year’s procession runs will run daily Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. until 8 or 9 p.m.