Ambulance Corps to Spread Holiday Cheer Through Little Neck, Douglaston

Santa is best known to travel by sleigh, but on Dec. 23, he'll be cruising around northeast Queens in a different vehicle: an ambulance.

Don't worry, Santa's not injured. He's just taking a break from air travel to hang out with the members of the Little Neck-Douglaston Ambulance Corps, who will join him on the ambulance as it cruises around the neighborhood, playing carols and handing out candy canes to anyone who wants one.

Louis Calderon, the ambulance corps' president, said he got the idea from volunteer fire departments in neighboring Long Island, who each year festoon their own vehicles with lights and visit the homes of volunteer's families.

Calderon liked the concept and decided he wanted to do something similar. But rather than limiting visits to the homes of volunteers, Calderon decided to expand the fun to the whole neighborhood.

I said 'Let's make it a little more community oriented, and not just for volunteers," he said.

Calderon and his crew will be traveling the streets of Little Neck and Douglaston between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. You'll know they're coming from the bright lights adorning the ambulance and the holiday music projecting from the siren speakers, but anyone who wants to request a visit need only email Calderon at president@lndamb.org.