BRISTOL — Sitting in a white horse-drawn carriage wearing a brand-new red suit with white trim and sporting a long beard and naturally rosy cheeks, Donny Crohe was a jolly Santa once again.
Like the Grinch who stole Christmas until he had a change of heart, someone plucked Crohe's role as Santa in the borough holiday parade right from under him nearly a decade ago.
And then, to his delight, what did Crohe receive this year but his job back as jolly old St. Nick?
After slipping what Crohe calls his ``beautiful'' new suit over his short (5 feet 6), plump (386 pounds) frame, he was transformed into none other than the man, the myth - Santa Claus - for the borough's 10th holiday parade, held Saturday.
As if caught in a reverie a few hours before the parade started, Crohe was imagining what it was going to feel like to don his old, yet new uniform.
``When I put the suit on, I feel like Santa,'' he said.
Crohe is thrilled to be back. He and Margie Chapman, the parade organizer, refrain from going into much detail about why he was passed over to play Santa. The snub brought the whole event to a halt in 1989.
``We had the disagreement,'' Crohe said. ``We're both bullheaded, and I feel that we solved our problems.''
When asked minutes before the parade began who was playing Santa this year, Chapman merely said: ``Kris Kringle.''
The nixing of Crohe as St. Nick began in 1988 when Chapman broke up with Harry Crohe, Donny's brother. A new Santa took Donny's place. The move upset not only Crohe, but townsfolk, too, who put up signs that read: ``Donny Crohe is the real Santa.''
Town politics also put a bah-humbug into the celebration that, for many, initiates the holiday season. This year's event took about a year and $10,000 to plan.
With mild temperatures and a sunny, cloudless sky, the parade rolled on without a hitch. About 14,000 people lined the mile-long route from Farragut Avenue to the borough hall on Pond Street.
In addition to the 66 floats and the Corvettes, fire trucks, cheerleaders, Kiwanis Club members and Knights (and, of course, Santa), long-standing highlights included Kenneth Bachman's Alumni ``Phantom Band,'' so called because it appears only once a year.
Bachman, a modest man of 72, spent 32 years as band director in the Bristol Borough School District and decided to gather former music students to play in the parade.
``The people go crazy about this band,'' Bachman said. ``I'm not one to blow my own horn, but the band is good.''
Bachman marched in the front row with the 47 musicians he had brought out of retirement to outfit in white shirts and black trousers so they could toot their horns one more time. Bachman wore his trademark gray, red-trimmed band uniform, white sneakers and white gloves. A whistle hung from his neck.
And like musicians on cue, the crowd whooped, hollered and applauded after the band finished playing ``White Christmas.''
It was one of the favorites for many in the three-hour event - next to, well, Santa, of course. He didn't show until the very end, but it was well worth the wait for some.
John Drogalis, 39, who grew up in Bristol but now lives in Hazlewood, near the Poconos, drove his four children down just to see the parade. Jessica, 5, couldn't wait to see the Santa.
``I got my list right here,'' she said, flashing a long, sealed envelope. It bore you-know-who's name and a quick postscript penciled on the back:
``Please bring my sister X-mas socks. I love you.''
