Cleared For Take Off: Western Montana Santa Flyover Needs Your Help with This Year’s ‘Santa Dash’

We've been talking about traditions this week.

One tradition that many Missoulians know about is honking in the Orange Street tunnel. But we just learned the surprising reason why this tradition should probably be replaced with something else.

But there's another tradition that Missoulians love, and this one just needs your appreciation (in the form of donations) for the holiday spirit to make it happen.

Santa has been cleared for takeoff.

The Western Montana Santa FlyOver posted to their Facebook page today that things are all set for the flight crew to make the flyover happen this year. That's one of the first steps in "Santa's Dash Through the Big Sky".

Many of us saw Santa fly over Missoula when we were kids, but for a long time, Santa took a break. Then in 2020, according to 406santa.org, thanks to a Facebook Group and the Missoula Downtown Foundation, Santa started flying over Missoula again.

This is where you come in, dear Missoulian/Western Montanan.

As they mentioned in the post above, the flyover happens because of donations every year. Currently the "cheer or meter" is at 0%. That means they're at the beginning of their fundraising for this year and the goal is $5,000.

The buildup to meeting that $5,000 is also something we all hope for and watch but let's pull together this year and see if we can make sure Santa can fly as soon as we can. The flyover brings joy to so many young people, and those young at heart. The end of the year will see a lot of requests for donations but try to remember the Santa Flyover as you're donating, too.