HANCOCK COUNTY — In the video on the Hancock County 911 Center Facebook page, it is night, and fireman Andrew Heller exits the door of the downtown Greenfield fire station. Walking across the driveway, he hears the jingling of bells. He stops and looks all around. Seeing nothing, he takes a few more steps, and then hears them again. He peers into the darkness and the scene cuts away to the brightly-lit Courthouse Plaza decorations. The bells continue, joined by a more rhythmic sleighbell jingle. He looks up — and here’s the part that gets me — we hear the Courthouse clock — our Courthouse clock — chime. From the look on Andrew’s face, you know he sees something unexpected. But it’s just what he was expecting all along. It’s Christmas Eve in Hancock County, and the firemen are ready.
Children young and old are invited to tune in to the Hancock County 911 Center on Facebook at 8 p.m. Christmas Eve for a holiday presentation of the fireman as they prepare to welcome Santa. Following the 8 p.m. premier, the video will be available for repeated viewing to accommodate varying bedtimes across the county.
2017, 2018 and 2019’s videos featured animations of Santa and his sleigh pulled by the reindeer above the clouds and in front of the moon or stills of holiday scenes and Christmas music. Near the end of each program, an official-sounding report alerts all safety personal to be on the lookout for a jolly man dressed in red. Officers are admonished of the whereabouts of said character (flying over Greenfield), and are encouraged to give him any help he needs in order to complete his mission of delivering toys to the girls and boys of Hancock County.
2020, however, promises to be something special, said Greg Duda, public information officer and 911 dispatcher. Duda, who has been in his position since 2016, is raising the bar this year for the annual Christmas Eve program.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The Hancock 911 Center, which began processing calls in 1991, has sponsored a live Christmas Eve broadcast over the scanner since 1990s.
Suzanne Woodland, Cumberland Chief of Police, recalled listening to the Indianapolis Police Department broadcast as a child in the late 1970s.
“They would do a calling-all-cars BOLO (be on the look out),” said Woodland. “They would describe the sleigh and the reindeer. Then they’d do updates about every 10 minutes.”
By 2017, however, it became clear that Facebook was the medium of choice, and the broadcast went digital.
Duda, whose background is actually in marketing, admitted that he “just loves” doing videos.
“There’s a lot of fun you can have with a story and imagery,” Duda said.
In preparation for this year’s broadcast, Duda recruited firemen from the Charlottesville Fire Department, the Greenfield Fire Department, the Shirley Fire Department, Sugar Creek Fire Department and the Vernon Township Fire Department.
When it came to explaining the project at hand, Duda was met with some skepticism.
“When I said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do,’” Duda said, “I had a lot of guys just staring at me.”
But when he explained it was for the kids, they were all in.
They know it’s all about Christmas and no one ever said no,” Duda said.
Heller, star of the preview video, admitted he had absolutely no theater background.
When asked about the kind of theatrical direction he received in order to so poignantly look up at the sky, he laughed.
“My girlfriend said her heart melted,” Heller said. “I guess I just have a boyish smile.”
Heller’s moment in the spotlight may last a little longer than 15 minutes.
“The guys gave me a bunch of grief about Stephen Spielberg calling me to film the next ‘Home Alone’ movie. ‘Lost in Greenfield,’:” he said.
Each of the five participating departments will perform a skit between a 60 and 90 seconds long. When it comes to brainstorming ideas, some departments came up with their own skits; others needed nudging. Viewers can expect to see the departments preparing to welcome Santa Claus. One features the Elf on a Shelf. Another depicts the firemen gathering food for the reindeer.
“We’re trying our best to make it look like it’s live and happening right now. It’s filmed at night with Christmas lights,” said Duda, who did most of the filming. “There’s too many moving parts to make it actually live.”
Duda posted the aforementioned preview video on the Hancock County 911 Center Facebook page on December 7. It has since had more than 5,700 views. The fire department’s goal with these holiday festivities is to touch as many children as possible in Hancock County with the magic of Christmas. And maybe some of us grown-up children as well.
