"Our truck requires a full engine rebuild and an electrical rewire," the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department wrote in October 2025, as FFXnow reported. "Given the age, scarcity of parts and special expertise needed our refurbishment bills are rising fast."
The truck is the department's 1946 Maxim, the red antique engine that brings Santa down Church Street each year and carries him through neighborhood streets in December. Last season it never left the shop. This year the Town of Vienna's November newsletter says the Maxim is "expected to make its triumphant return" at the Church Street Holiday Stroll on Monday, Nov. 30, after "a year-long hiatus for specialized repair and maintenance."
Vienna could have let a modern engine take over. It already has one that can carry Santa. But the town paid to keep the old truck running, and it paid far more than the truck cost in 1946.
Bought for $7,863.48, kept alive for $77,000
VVFD ordered the engine, a Maxim Model 435, on Nov. 8, 1945. The department accepted it on Jan. 25, 1946, at a delivered price of $7,863.48.
It served for close to 25 years before the department passed it to a smaller fire company. Eventually it ended up abandoned in a pasture. In early 1993 the VVFD Ladies Auxiliary recovered it and had it retitled to the department, and J&R Body Shop in Winchester finished a first restoration in June 1997. Since then the Maxim hasn't fought fires. It works parades, festivals and holiday events.
The Santa season asks a lot of an 80-year-old engine: night after night of slow driving, stopping and idling, with sirens and music running. The breakdowns came three Decembers in a row. FFXnow's October 2025 report covered the first two, and WUSA9 reported the department's account of the third:
| Season | What happened to the Maxim |
|---|---|
| Two Decembers before the fundraiser | A "catastrophic failure" of the transmission sidelined Santa |
| The December before the fundraiser | A failed starter solenoid took it out of service days before Christmas |
| Fall 2025 | Coolant loss and persistent electrical issues meant a full engine rebuild and rewire, and the truck missed the 2025 season entirely |
The department started "Operation Save Santa's Sleigh" on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, with a $50,000 goal. FFXnow reported more than $21,000 raised by the following Wednesday. VVFD said the money would cover the immediate repairs plus longer-term work on the brakes, hoses and radiators "so that the sleigh is trouble free for many years to come."
By Dec. 8, 2025, the campaign had reached $77,000, which beat the goal by more than $27,000. That is nearly ten times what the department paid for the truck in 1946. The two figures are in very different dollars, but the gap still shows how much more it costs to keep an antique in service than it once cost to buy.
The December Santa rode a modern engine
The money came in too late for last Christmas. In its Dec. 8 thank-you post, VVFD wrote that "the Maxim needed a lot of work and will not be back in time," and that volunteers would get Santa around town in the department's current engine. FFXnow reported the same arrangement in a Dec. 17 follow-up.
In the same post, the department promised that once the Maxim was back, it would take the truck around town to thank donors. VVFD added that Santa had agreed to spend the first part of his "vacation" with the firefighters for the occasion.
That makes Nov. 30 more than a tree lighting. It is the first event on the Town's calendar where the rebuilt truck is scheduled to appear in public.
How the Nov. 30 Stroll unfolds
The Church Street Holiday Stroll runs from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 30, in front of the Freeman Store and Museum at 131 Church Street NE, where Church meets Mill Street. Last year's Stroll fell on Monday, Dec. 1, so this year's comes a day earlier on the calendar. The order of the evening matters if you have kids who want to see the truck:
- Santa arrives first. He comes down Church Street on the Maxim, and the tree-lighting ceremony led by Mayor Linda Colbert follows, with live holiday music.
- Gingerbread ornaments come next. Decorating stations line Church Street. Finished ornaments go to the Explore Vienna VA tent across from the Freeman Store by 7:10 p.m. for judging.
- Winners are announced at 7:30 p.m. Ornament artists of all ages compete in several categories, and winners get prize packs of gift cards to local businesses.
- The rest of the night runs the length of the street. Fire pits along Church Street offer free marshmallow roasting, Church Street businesses stay open with holiday deals, and the gingerbread house arch for photos stands at the Lawyers Road end of the street.
The gingerbread theme is not new. Explore Vienna VA introduced Gingerbread Wonderland, with its ornament stations, contest, arch and fire pits, at the 2024 Stroll. The change this year is the vehicle that opens the evening.
Several historic sites are open during the Stroll: the Freeman Store and Museum, the Little Library, the Caboose, the Train Station, the Knights of Columbus building that was formerly First Baptist Church, and Vienna Presbyterian's Old Chapel. Church Street also has new neighbors since the last Stroll. Sheeba, a Yemeni restaurant at 111 Church Street NW, opened to the public on Aug. 22. MOSS Building & Design held a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 22 for its design center and headquarters at 108 Church Street NE.
For questions about the evening, Historic Vienna Inc. takes calls at 703-938-5187, and the Town keeps details at viennava.gov/stroll.
Then the truck goes street by street
The Stroll is one evening. The Santa Runs are the bigger test for the Maxim, and they are why a $77,000 repair made sense to the people who gave. VVFD's Santa Runs page says each December Santa rides the 1946 Maxim with firefighters acting as elves, handing out candy canes and stopping for children who wait outside.
Recent years show the usual timing. In 2024 the runs went from Dec. 13 to 19, with eight runs across those dates. In 2025 they went from Dec. 13 to 20. FFXnow notes that VVFD traditionally announces the schedule in late November.
The department's own FAQ explains how the runs work:
- There's no fixed route. "Rudolf" handles the map each night, and the crew generally works north to south or south to north. The department posts a Santa Run sector map, plus a tracker on its page and on X at @VVFDSanta.
- Listen for it. Santa travels with sirens, music and lights, and the department suggests stepping outside when you hear them getting close.
- No second passes. The crew is "stretched to meet the full area each night" and can't go back to a street it already covered.
- There's a weeknight cutoff. After years of complaints about noise and sleeping children, the runs try to wrap up by 8:15 p.m. on weeknights.
The page also warns that weather, mechanical issues or other factors can throw the schedule off, and jokes about "our new sleigh mechanic recruited directly from the North Pole." Given the past three Decembers, the mechanical warning is meant seriously.
Two more dates on the way to the Stroll
Two events fill the gap on either side of Nov. 30:
- Saturday, Nov. 21: The 23rd Annual Holiday Gift Show runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ayr Hill Church, 100 Ayr Hill Avenue NE. Patch's listing describes it as free and featuring local makers.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Vienna Theatre Company presents It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry Street SE.
If you've followed our coverage of Vienna's fall events, the holiday calendar works the same way. Each event uses a different part of town, so check the location before you head out. Our Vienna neighborhood page has more on the streets around Church and Mill.
Traditions like the Santa Runs are part of what makes a Vienna street feel like home in December. At Beltran & Associates Realty, our brokers have watched these traditions for years, and we're glad to talk about any part of life here, from the Stroll to the street the Maxim might turn down next. When you're ready, Talk with a Local Broker Today.
