Coplay Sports held its annual Santa parade Dec. 15. Coplay Fire Department assisted Coplay Sports volunteers in coordinating the parade. Because there was no snow, Santa’s sled was on a trailer and pulled by a pickup truck.

Santa gave children presents, and his elves handed out candy treats.

Mason Briggs, of Coplay, was the first youngster to meet Santa. He was delighted to sit with Santa.

The grandchildren of Greg and Terri Klucharich were on the Front Street list. The grandchildren — Cooper, Maverick and Keagan Kauth, Charlotte and Margot Beck and Amelia and Madelynn Collins — waited for their turn with Santa.

The parade around Coplay is a decadeslong tradition that delivers gifts to Coplay children and even to some pets. Many parents in Coplay remember when they were youngsters and had Santa and Mrs. Claus deliver a present to them.

The parade is a memory maker for the borough’s children.

Coplay Sports President Tim Grohotolsky said he is delighted with his team participating in the Santa parade and engaging the Toys for Tots program.

Coplay Sports was founded in 1955. Its goals are to create valuable memories, personal development through team sports and fun for the Coplay community kids and their families. Numerous volunteers over the decades have dedicated their time to build strong, successful children.

The Toys for Tots involvement is another measure of Coplay Sports fulfilling its goals to assist children. This was its fourth year participating in the Toys for Tots program.

The Toys for Tots program began in 1947 as the brainchild of Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks, who said his wife, Diane, was the real inspiration. She handmade dolls and asked her husband to give them to an organization that delivers toys to kids in need.

He returned with the dolls and told his wife he could not find such an organization, so she told him to start one.

Hendricks assembled his Marine associates and collected and distributed 5,000 toys in 1947. Currently, the Marines’ Toys for Tots program collects about 20 million toys nationwide that get distributed to about 7 million less fortunate children annually.

With the Toys for Tots program, the team sports programs and its annual Santa parade, Coplay Sports fulfills its goals and echoes the famous anonymous quote, “When you are kind to children, it not only changes you, it changes the world.”

Visit coplaysports.org to volunteer, help coach or donate to help sustain the near 70-year-old organization.