Sitting on the floor after setting up the bushy balsam fir Christmas tree, stand and all, in the apartment with a view of the Boston skyline, Santa Claus leaned back on his hands. Looking up at the ceiling, he emitted a satisfied sigh.
Jimmy Rider, decked out in a red suit and hat, the cotton ball at the tip poking through a slit in his bike helmet, had just traveled from Somerville to Boston to Brookline by bicycle, lugging the 6-foot tree in a trailer behind him.
He was spent but still full of cheer…
If you don’t want to get your hands sticky cutting down a tree, just give Jimmy Rider a call
Jimmy Rider considers himself a “glorified reindeer on two wheels,” delivering a bit of the holiday spirit straight to people’s front doors each year. But instead of carrying Santa Claus and a stack of gifts around on his sleigh, the Somerville resident comes bearing balsams, firs, and other Christmas trees, cut, trimmed, and ready to be adorned with decorations.
For three years, Rider has made a business of hauling the trees on the back of his bike, which is decked out in twinkling lights and holiday trim, to residents as close as Somerville and Cambridge, and as far away as Charlestown, Arlington…
Check out this article: “Christmas Tree Delivery By Bicycle at Ricky’s Flower Market of Somerville” from last Holiday Season in the Somerville News Weekly.
More to come.