Santa made an early appearance Nov. 20 in Penn Hills with a special visit to the Berkshire Hathaway office on Frankstown Road.
Staci Rullo of Penn Hills invited the public to her real estate office for free photos with Santa and cookies.
“We have been doing this for many, many years,” Rullo said. “This is the first year we had Santa join us.”
Dan Donnelly, a registered nurse with UPMC, heard about the event from Rullo’s sister-in-law, Mame Saltzman, and quickly volunteered to don a Santa suit for the photos. Saltzman, also an RN, worked Donnelly’s shift that night so he could complete the good deed.
Families attended the event with their children and others brought their pets to have their photos taken with the man in red.
“The kids really felt comfortable with Santa,” Rullo said. “They wanted to touch his beard and sit on his lap to tell him their wishlist.”
The event started at 5 p.m. — just as a tornado warning was put out for the Penn Hills area. Despite the dreary weather, the office did not lose power and the event continued as planned with one photo cancellation.
Attendees were encouraged to bring a nonperishable item to benefit the Rosedale Food Pantry.
About eight to nine boxes of food were collected during the event. People brought pasta, sauce, canned goods and monetary donations.
“It went very very well,” Rullo said. “There were donations dropped off last night and some this morning. Some checks are being mailed into Rosedale.”
