RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --At 5:30 p.m. the dark skies of Germany engulf the flightline here, with the only noise coming from within the dual-bay hanger. There, hundreds of families gather around waiting for the impending arrival of a very jolly man.

Suddenly, the door of a C-130J Super Hercules opens. The sight of a black boot emerges from the stairs, followed by another. Then, the sight of a man with a large white beard appears, dressed in a red suit which stands out amongst the normal tones of grey and green around the flightline.

Children begin pointing to him and looking up at their parents:

“Mom! Dad! That’s Santa!”

Santa came Dec. 16, to open up a workshop here for children to participate in. Kids played in jumping castles and everyone participated in penguin bowling, face painting, a photo booth and watched movies.

One Airman who helped set up Santa’s workshop, 2nd Lt. Haley Janssen, 86th Maintenance Squadron flight officer-in-charge, was excited to bring the jolly old man to Ramstein.

“Santa is here today to make sure that all the good children who aren’t in the U.S. get the presents they deserve,” Janssen said.

Every year, Santa visits Ramstein to spread the holiday cheer to the largest community of U.S. citizens outside the U.S., so they don’t miss the same holiday spirit that can be found stateside.

According to one of Santa’s helpers, Col. Paul Filcek, 86th Maintenance Group commander, it was a magical night for everyone who came out.

“Ramstein is so full of incredible kids,” Filcek said. “There are so many of them waiting in line to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. They’re so happy, and we’re so happy to spread this holiday cheer across the Santa-sphere’s most important community in Europe!”

Christmas this season arrived on the back of a C-130J, but it couldn’t have been possible without the community coming together to make it all worthwhile. No matter how dark the night gets, the light of the Christmas spirit glowing from the members of Team Ramstein always shines bright!