Will Santa Fly Over Missoula Again In 2021?

One of the coolest local stories from last year was the gradual development and the return of the Santa Fly-Over. For a brief bit of background - the Santa Fly-Over was an annual tradition in Missoula for many years, in which Northwest Fresh Tidyman's hired a helicopter to fly Santa over the city, and kids from all over town could see the glowing lights of Santa and his reindeer. When Tidyman's closed their Missoula store, the tradition of the Santa Fly-Over went with it... until last year, when a Facebook group got together in an attempt to bring it back.

What started out as a fun "wouldn't it be cool if we did the Santa Fly-Over again?" conversation turned into a concentrated effort to make it happen - it was discovered the old Santa sleigh was still on the rooftop of a local business, they were able to inspect it, clean it, and make some repairs, and they raised funds to get another company involved so that the sleigh could ride again.

And it did! We got to see Santa fly over Missoula last year, and as cool as it was to see that, it was even cooler to see all the kids and families in my neighborhood craning their necks at the sky, running down the sidewalk to try to get a glimpse of Santa.

So of course, the question is - was it a one-time thing, or will the Santa Fly-Over be back for another year? Someone posed the question in the Facebook group, and Lynn Lease, one of the organizers, responded in the comments by saying:

"We are absolutely hoping to fly him again this year. We're in the very early stages of planning. I will try my best to keep you all posted as new developments arise."

So it looks like, if all goes according to plan, Santa will be back to fly over Missoula for another year! I'd recommend joining the Facebook group if you want to stay updated on any developments.

Are you excited to see Santa take flight in 2021?