For the third year, Amanda Peart and Linette Nelson are organizing the Shag the Drag Christmas Food Drive in downtown Fort Dodge on Saturday evening. The event, which is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., starts at Peart’s Personal Expressions Art and Hair Studio, 1214 Central Ave., where cruisers can drop off non-perishable food items for The Lord’s Cupboard food pantry and meet the Mean One himself — also known as Peart in a Grinch costume and makeup.

Visitors can then cruise down Central Avenue — better known as “shagging the drag” — toward the City Square, where they’ll find Santa Claus with some hot cocoa and cookies. Caroling will begin in the Square at 6 p.m. with Santa, the Grinch and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Nelson and Peart started this Christmas shag the drag tradition two years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking its toll on holiday cheer, Peart said.

“Since there was no Santa at the mall, we just created a free event,” she said.

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Santa spent the evening waving to families and taking photos with kids at the 2021 Shag the Drag food drive in downtown Fort Dodge.

Initially, Peart hosted Santa and the Grinch at her salon, but a short time later, she joined with Nelson and Mayor Matt Bemrich to host a larger event that same year.

“With COVID, everything was really shut down and we knew it was hard for a lot of people to get out and do stuff,” Peart said.

Inspired by her mom’s volunteerism at The Lord’s Cupboard, Peart also decided that it was apropos to run a food drive with the holiday event. Between 2020 and 2021, the event collected tables full of food to donate to The Lord’s Cupboard.

“It’s a great time to get people downtown, play Christmas music and spend time with family” while giving back to the community and “teach kids that Christmas is more than just gifts,” Peart said. “It’s about thinking about others and spreading Christmas cheer.”

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Carolers with Triton Kids and Lighthouse Ministries sing holiday songs in the City Square in December 2021.