Santa, breakfast part of New SNCB tradition

Twenty-one South New Castle Borough children attended a breakfast with Santa on Saturday at …

Christmas traditions have to start somewhere.

In South New Castle Borough, they’re being birthed at the fire hall.

Last December, the borough held its first pre-holiday kids event there, inviting children to a time of pizza and activities with Santa Claus.

On Saturday, organizers tweaked the party atmosphere by staging a breakfast with St. Nick, encouraging youngsters to come in their pajamas to enjoy pancakes and sausage, coloring, face painting, writing letters to Santa and bagging up reindeer feed.

For longtime borough resident Morgan Cwiakala, the new celebration was better late than never.

“I’ve lived here since fourth grade, and I’m 29,” she said. “I wish they’d have had something like this when I was growing up.

“I heard they had it last year, but this is our first time coming here. It’s very nice. My kids have been very excited about it.”

Even Santa was relishing being part of a post-childhood Christmas custom.

“My Dad did it,” Tag Mahoney said of playing Santa, “and I always thought he was nuts. He’d go all over the place, he and my mother. He’d go to different homes and do all kinds of different things for people; the handicapped and all that.

“I just always thought it was a waste of time.”

However after his father, John Brown, passed away, Mahoney ended up donning the red suit and beard.

“Now I know why he had done it,” he said. “It makes you feel good. It is a blast. To put a smile on a kid’s face – it’s awesome.

“I wasn’t going to do it. But I tried it out, and I knew I was destined to do it.”

According to borough Councilwoman Robin Holliday, 21 children turned out for Saturday’s event.

She, her fellow council members and Mayor Joe Woryk hope to keep it going, even after the borough merges with Shenango Township on Jan. 1, 2026.

“We just wanted to bring everybody together and have a good time,” she said. “We realize that we’re going to be merging here soon, so we thought, ‘what can we do to help people realize how this community is a tight community?’

“We’re going to be part of Shenango Township, but it’s still our neighborhood. We’re always going to be South New Castle. So we’re trying different things, and this is one of them. So long as, God willing, we can do this, we’re going to do it.”