Not even the coronavirus pandemic can stop Santa, but the virus has prompted a few changes.

While Bulloch County’s annual Santa’s Toy Run will be socially distanced this year due to COVID-19, motorcycle riders still will escort Santa Claus through town on Saturday as he helps bring Christmas joy to children of less financially blessed families.

Riders participating in the event, as well as anyone wishing to donate, may give new, unwrapped toys. However, the preference the 2020 run is cash donations. “That’s so we don’t have to handle as much” and can keep as safe from the COVID risk as possible, said organizer Curtis Gay. “All cash proceeds will go to Fostering Bulloch for purchasing gift cards” to buy toys for the children. 

Registration for the ride is from 10-11 a.m. on Saturday at Ogeechee Technical College. “Kickstands will be up” and riders take off at 11, heading to the Statesboro Post Office on West Main Street to pick up Santa. Then “there will be a parade of motorcycles and Santa down West Main to South Main streets, then across the railroad tracks to Fair Road, all the way to the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds,” Gay said.

Although the pandemic won’t allow events like the traditional meal and “visiting Santa” parts of the ride, families are encouraged to bring kids to the sidewalks to wave at Santa as he passes through, he said.

Donations can be made at Ogeechee Technical College at the beginning of the ride; at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds at the end of the ride, or online. A link for online donations can be found on the Santa’s Toy Run Facebook page; https://fb.me/e/1qmF3ud9f.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.