By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Hundreds of Olean-area residents and their children turned out in cold temperatures Saturday night to watch and listen to Santa on the Rooftop.
The longtime tradition begun in the late 1960s by the late George Pancio, at his home at 617 Main St., was revived in 2022 by his grandson, Dr. Steven Pancio, on the roof of his residence at 660 Main St.
George Pancio, a retired Olean school administrator, had portrayed Santa Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for 11 years.
Despite temperatures in the low teens, young and old alike stood on the snow-covered lawn waiting for Santa to appear at 6:30 p.m. There were about 250 attending. Free hot cocoa available to warm up.
While Santa was describing his upcoming trip around the world, a cell phone rang. It was Mrs. Claus reminding him to pick up some bread and milk at the nearby Service Store on his way home that night.
Mrs. Claus said she’d been busy making candy canes and the elves had finished making the toys. She added that she was glad Santa brought Rudolph because “There’s going to be some fog in Hinsdale tonight.”
Santa introduced his head elf, Buddy and they discussed some of this year’s favorite toys for girls and boys — the ever-popular Barbie doll and a remote-control helicopter. Play Dough is another longtime popular gift. Hoverboards are also popular, he said.
The elves also made a million pink unicorns this year, but cellphones are a problem this year because it’s hard to get parts, Santa added.
Of course the toys are for children have been good over the past year, Saint Nick noted. He had a long list of names on the naughty or nice list that reached from the roof almost down to the ground. Some parents called out the names of their children to see if it was on the list.
Santa said that Buffalo Bills jerseys are another very popular gift request around Western New York. In another football reference, he said there were two names coming off the nice list in Kansas City, Patrick M. and T. Kelce. That brought a round of applause from the crowd.
Santa walked over to Rudolph who was peeking his head out a window, his red nose blinking, and led the audience in singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
