Newspaper helps Good Samaritan track down owner of lost Christmas gifts

On Sunday morning in Dartmouth, N.S., Billy Stewart noticed a large box sitting on the side of the highway.

He pulled over and discovered five Christmas bags in the box. Each bag was packed identically, filled with fashion kits designed to help youngsters sew buttons and rhinestones on clothing.

There was no identifying information on the bags.

Steward called the Chronicle Herald, hoping for help in tracking down the gifts' owner.

Five hours after the story went online, the mystery was solved: The box had fallen out of a pickup truck that was carrying kids' gifts to a party held by the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters Association on Sunday.

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Chris Camp, who was at the party, told the Chronicle Herald that when the group noticed several gifts were missing, they quickly scrambled and managed to ensure that each child still got a gift from the visiting Santa Claus.

"Santa was just helping hand out gifts, and we were juggling the balls trying to make sure he had all the gifts," Camp said.

Since all the children received gifts in the end, Camp said that the union will donate the gifts Stewart found to a local toy drive.

"As long as they go to the children," Stewart, who worked as a mall Santa for 30 years, said. "I love Christmas."