Van Nuys : Santa Flies In to Gault Elementary

No Dasher, no Dancer, no Prancer nor Vixen. And forget about Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.

If you must know, the Santa visiting Gault Street School on Thursday gave his reindeer the day off and took a helicopter, thank you very much.

But the 450 assembled schoolchildren didn’t miss the reindeer one bit--especially not with visits from city firefighters, magician Joey Kabosius and the life-size cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

Shaking their little fists in the air, chanting “Daf-fy, Daf-fy,” the children were all grins.

Fourth-grader Jordan Schrameyer assessed the situation once Santa’s helicopter had landed in the playground: “It’s pretty cool.”

Although the magic show was Jordan’s favorite part of the holiday assembly, he acknowledged that “most schools don’t have Santa come to school, especially not in a helicopter.”

Santa--also known as Van Nuys Airport electrician Bob Sirronen--wandered through rows of clapping children, stopping to hug nearly everyone, teachers included.

Nine-year-old Saba Riazati said she enjoyed the excitement of the event.

“I want to tell Santa what I want--a bike and a new pair of Rollerblades,” she said.

Saba and the other students all received red-ribboned gift bags containing a candy cane, three pencils and cookies, courtesy of Van Nuys Airport, which has adopted the neighboring school.

The Ninety-Nines, a nonprofit group of women pilots, donated $250 to the school toward the purchase of a new computer.

Simply put, the visit “means the world to the students,” said Gault teacher Dana Licker.

“This brings fantasy to the children,” Licker mused. “Sometimes, there’s too much reality for kids today. This visit makes them wish and hope and dream.”