Throngs greet Santa Claus in Petaluma

<p>Santa Claus arrived in downtown Petaluma at noon Saturday, waving from the tugboat Bernice Lind to hundreds of true believers who included young children, their parents and their grandparents.</p><p>After a brief spin around the Turning Basin, Mr. and Mrs. Claus disembarked at the dock just south of the Golden Eagle Shopping Center where many eagerly awaited his arrival. Cameras were readied, as were gift lists.</p><p>“Oh, he’s getting close. Here he comes!” said Gail Osman of Petaluma, who stood in the parking lot of the shopping center with her three grandchildren and watched Santa and his entourage of elves.</p><p>“I believe in Santa Claus. I met him once at the North Pole, in Findland,” said Osman to her granchildren, Hadley, 6, Elyse, 8, and Will, 3. </p><p>The three kids said they were ready to make their holiday requests. Hadley wants an Ipod Touch, Elyse a Karaoke machine and Will a “Batman house.”</p><p>Santa’s annual visit this year did not include a horse-drawn carriage procession through Downtown Petaluma.</p><p>Marsha Trent, a staff member of the Petaluma Visitors Program, which sponsors the event with the City of Petaluma, said funding cuts to the visitors’ program left the group without enough money to coordinate the procession.</p><p>“It’ll be back next year,” Trent said. </p><p>She said that Santa’s Downtown Petaluma visit has been a tradition for more than 25 years. The event drew about 1,000 spectaters to the Turning Basin.</p><p>Quinn LaRue, 3, stood with her parents and aunt in a grassy area full of prickly weeds just east of the shopping center.</p><p>Her attention fluctuated between Santa and the possibility that snakes lie somewhere in the grass. Quinn’s request for Santa was for a Strawberry Shortcake doll, a kitty, clothes and more dolls.</p><p>“She’s just now getting old enough to be aware of Santa Claus,” said Jon LaRue, Quinn’s father.</p>