December 8, 2018

    Whew, I am TIRED! This was probably Santa's busiest day of the season and he packed about 300 children into the day! It all started at Sugar Creek for a fund raiser breakfast at 8:30 and it was a good one, location was great and we had lots of kids! The folks running the breakfast did a great job and I only had to relocate Santa's chair a bit further away from the fireplace! I am going to do a run down of Santa's day and come back and go over the requests because I truthfully don't remember where what was requested! The Sugar Creek gig ran until 11 then I was off to Southern Crossing foe a 12-3 gig!

    Along the way I stopped at McDonalds for 2 cheeseburgers and a milkshake, because I figured that was one thing I could eat while driving. Unfortunately they were cleaning the shake machine (Isn't that always the way?) so one of the nice ladies made me an iced coffee drink instead!

So I gobbled down one cheeseburger, made a not so quick stop at K-Mart, Santa runs into lots of folks when he is in full regalia! And I pulled into Southern Crossing in plenty of time. I even beat the photographer there! The three hours there were almost nonstop with just a bit of a slow down at 2:30 or so. Lots of families and Santa did his best to encouraged or enable a picture for each one!

      At three Santa hopped back in the car and drove down to The Baum Center to meet up with a fire truck for transport to Kill Devil Hills celebration at their Town Hall! Along the way I ate the other cheeseburger, now cold of course! There were lots of kids there too for almost the full two hours that were scheduled there. I was a bit concerned about Santa's last stop because I was supposed to be at Manteo High School for the close of a dance recital. I said I thought I could be there by 6:20 which was pushing the limit to get from KDH to Manteo in that time.

      Half way through the gig I got a voicemail that the dance recital was going along quicker than thought and they wanted me to get there as soon as I could. Luckily the crowd stopped about 5:45 and the fire truck with the fine crew from Kill Devil Hills picked me up and took me to my car and I was on the road at 5:55! Now I didn't go more than 4 MPH over the speed limits all the way back and I only hit 1 traffic light. So I cruised into MHS parking lot at 6:15, hustled inside!(as I was going up the walk, there was a family with a little dancer coming down the walk, but they told me the recital was still going on, whew!) Then I was ushered backstage to make my cameo appearance just in time!  And we did pictures with all the dancers and some of the younger members of the audience!

A very full day, so I am at home enjoying an uncrustable ( I got hooked on them this summer, peanut butter and grape jelly, yummy!)) and a soda with my feet up!  Hope y’all are taking it easy too! Upon further reflection, I realized what I didn't say was that it was also a totally wonderful day because I got to bring joy into the hearts of a lot of little ones. I got so many hugs, each of which tends to renew my energy. The light that I was able to see in the eyes of these children was fantastic and I wouldn't have traded a moment of my busy day for anything!

December 6th, 2018

Yesterday was a very fun day for Santa.  It started with a visit to Kitty Hawk UMC daycare.  90 some 2-4 year olds greeted Santa warmly.  It was among the best visits this old Santa has ever had!  This age group can be a little leery of Santa, but not these children.  Everyone of the 90 some either sat on Santa's lap or stood beside him for a picture.  Now some needed a little time to get used to the idea but eventually Santa got a hug or high five from EVERYONE.  Some of the classes even  had a song they sung beautifully for Santa!  The teachers were wonderful too and all are definitely on Santa's nice list! 

       There are a lot of different ways to be Santa, some portray him as a bigger than life boisterous character, some just sit back and let the kids come to them.  I tend to use a middle of the road approach and gently encourage the shy ones to come to me.  My role model has always been the Santa in the original "Miracle on 34th Street", the marvelous Edmund Gwenn.  If you have never seen the movie, give yourself a treat this holiday season and make it a point to view it!

    The evening was devoted to a gathering of the faculty of First Flight High School.  Since it was a casual affair Santa dressed appropriately, including socks with his picture on them!  See the picture!  Such a feast, Santa may have to let out his suit pants.  Great music also!  Santa topped off the evening with a visit to his favorite watering hole, Bluewater Grill, for a dessert with his favorite bartender, Coffee!  All in all a marvelous day!

December 2nd

Well, today I had a first, a costume malfunction! Nothing scandalous but it was disconcerting! I was at The Dunes for a Breakfast with Santa sponsored by the great folks at Village Realty, one of my favorite activities each year! About 15 minutes in I realized  something didn't feel quite right and then I figured out something was wrong with Santa's belt. After fussing with it for a bit I saw that the buckle was broken. You see those fancy Santa buckles are pretty but they arent very strong.So I just removed it. I was wearing what is referred to by many as a Coca Cola Santa Suit that has big brass buttons all the way down the front of it and not having a belt was not a huge loss! Anyway The Dunes was a great location for the event because the families ate in the same room that Santa was set up in. That way I could see the kids all the time and as think I've said before it is the interaction with them that inspires me and gives me the power to continue this calling because that's the way I view it, as a calling!

So there were lot's of little ones I had seen before, in fact a couple of the Mommas had pictures on their phones to show me of previous years! A friend of mine sent me a cheat sheet for his daughter and her cousins and it's always nice to surprise the little ones with what Santa knows about them!

One little girl fairly early asked for a horse and when I asked where she would keep it, she said in her back yard and she would feed it carrots. I thought that was a good one, then I heard a little later from a young man who wanted a live dinosaur which he would keep in his back yard and he was going to feed it carrots also!

One thing they did today was they had a form for the kids to fill out which had their gift requests on it and several other things! I'm going to try to bring you the best of these submissions! There was a 3 year old who whats to be a teacher and two of his requests were a yellow fan and a yellow Vacuum! And a 5 year old who wants to be a singer and was requesting a treehouse, to help with the high notes I guess! A 4 year old boy who wants to grow up to be a wrestler, every Mother's dream, and he wanted a big monster truck. One little guy had some help writing a lengthy list, including, his own binoculars and a new ice maker and concluded with "That's all" but he added in his own had a P.S. & a P.P.S. unfortunately I can't read either !

There was a handwritten list I could read but not figure out. It said " Treasure X" when I looked it up I found it is a game that you can find treasure. "Untamed raptors" He wants to tame them I guess and "Swing Scooter" which is a 3 wheeled scooter! See Santa isn't too old to learn things, but I'm not riding that either! Had one letter from an 18 year old who said she has been "amazing" this year and one item on her list was plastic forks! Another little one,5, wants to be a horse trainer and asked for a selfie stick and flower toys! There was a 3 year old who wants to grow up to be a pizza teacher, sounds like a tasty profession. A little girl wants a pink guitar, A six year old wants to be a paleontolugist and wants a slime lab and a pottery wheel, first time I've been asked for that! There was an unsigned note that asked for a flute and a trombone!

Santa's day ended with a visit to Blue Water Grill where I met several really cute little ones including one little girl who had on Santa earrings!  Santa also saw the most beautiful woman on Roanoke Island!   Several folks complimented me on how well I interacted with the children which I took as a good sign! Santaś doing his job! I do want to close with one letter from a 4 year old who wants to grow up to be an elf and would really like some rainbow slime for Christmas! Her last wish was for snow to come down! So watch out, Outer Banks! Until next time Santa signing off!

December 1, 2018

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days! Thank you Charles Dickens for that opening! It was the best of days because it started with the Manteo Christmas Parade! It is hands down Santa's favorite event of the Christmas season! It was also  the biggest parade, in my memory anyway.
 Sitting in the bucket on the fire truck I get to see the entire parade pass in review and today that took 30 minutes! The day began with Santa getting his usual ride from the elementary school to the high school in a golf cart that was tricked out fine enough to be in the parade or at the North Pole. It was complete with reindeer Ralph, one of Santa's alternate reindeer! After a cruise of the parade lineup we went back to meet the chief of Roanoke Island Fire Department and his fine crew! I climbed into the bucket and was given a radio and fitted with a safety belt, more about that later. I have always believed that it  is important for each child watching the parade to know that Santa loves THEM. So it is my personal goal to make eye contact with each child along the route. Now I know that I probably don't reach that goal, but that doesn't mean I don't try each year and I'll bet I do make eye contact with most of the kids. It also means I don't look at many adults so please don't think I was ignoring you today if I didn't look at you! About halfway through the parade route the safety belt slipped off so I stepped out of it and I never fell out of the bucket once, though I did the Limbo under one low-hanging wire!

Now as to how it was the worst of day, Santa made a mistake and booked himself for two different places this afternoon at the same time. It was totally my fault and I will try to make it up to the folks I couldn't get to til late!

After the parade Santa was taken the Manteo Elementary for pictures. Lots of great kids with fantastic outfits for pictures! Here are the highlights from their requests! Several FitBits were requested, if that's any indication we are going to have a load of well-conditioned kids. Smart watches were popular today and Barbie campers! Two requests for snakes and one lizard in addition to the usual cats and dogs! One fellow asked for a remote control Gravedigger and for those of you not from North East NC, that is a monster truck that has his own house and playground. So he wasn't asking for a way to dig graves! Another fellow wanted an excavator and a remote control helicopter. Several girls asked for makeup and one asked for a makeup table. I asked if she had any makeup for the table and she said no! Guess she figured it came with makeup! One little one asked for a kitchen! I had one young fellow on my lap and I asked him if he had been to the parade, when he said yes, I asked what time he got up. He replied he was up at 3 and a half! That was earlier than I, for sure!

  After the grade school it was off to Southern Crossing for another session with the FFHS Journalism students.  One thing different today was we had several dogs in for pictures and some  repeat business, including Santa’s favorite elf, and two young ladies on their way to Nutcracker with their beautiful Mom!  The request ranged from the expected to the strange.  In the first category were a Bumblebee Transformer, a kit to make bracelets, earrings while in the latter group there was an animation tablet,  a unicorn that could be walked, a robot Monkey and a robot bunny, not by the same child!  Well ol’ Santa is tired so that’s all from Santa’s lap for today!

Friday, November 30, 2018

Well, wasn't that interesting. Started the evening off by going to the wrong Beach Club sat through a time out for rain in Manteo and had about 75+ kids on my lap to end the evening. It seems there are more than one Beach Club on the beach road. After I got that straightened out I went to the Festival of Trees! There were some gorgeous trees there that will be up for auction tomorrow! Saw several children and gave them all gift bags from Hotline, the sponsor of the event!
Then it was off to Manteo, traffic had slackened off by 6:30 because I had reports earlier it was backed up to Lone Cedar! Of course Santa had to talk his way past the police barricade but I was in full regalia so that was not a problem. Of course there were a bunch of kids standing in my reserved place but there was another a couple of places back and I was there in place by 6:40. Then about halfway through the lineup it started to rain! Well since it was only one small cloud and moving fast, the show was halted for 10 minutes, the crowd stayed and we cut to the end of the show which was Santa's big entrance while all the kids were singing! After the show, Santa hustled over to Magnolia Pavilion to hear what the kids wanted and let them get a picture with Santa. Lot's and lot's of kids and it was a constant pressure but we got through it! Every child had their picture taken and was given a candy cane after they told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Fit Bits were popular to night and smart watches, with a few baby dolls and Barbies thrown in for good measure. Did have one call for a Rapunzel doll. Pokémon cards were called for an d Nerf guns, asked one little girl who she was going to shoot and she replied, "My Mom!" Had several familiar faces on my knee tonight, including one little one from church who told me she wanted a purple alligator for Christmas, another little girl wanted a unicorn she could ride and one other wanted a real horse she had been working with for a long time! Also our preacher and his family came to see Santa! And that's it for tonight, tomorrow is a busy day!

Saturday, Nov. 24th at Kitty Hawk Kites & Blue Water Nov. 25

Welcome back faithful reader to the second installment of what happened with Santa last weekend. I'm going to start with show and tell, so y'all are going to have to wait to hear about the boy who wanted coal! Here's evidence that we did take pictures of some large groups Saturday! And I'm including some samples of the pictures I was lucky enough to receive and the lists I have gotten, with the names removed, of course!

To continue the tale of the weekend, after leaving the wonderful folks at Southern Crossing where photos were taken by the Journalism classes from FFHS, Santa went back to Kitty Hawk Kites where a nice INDOOR area had been set by the rock wall! "The weather outside was frightful!" One of the first visitor Santa had was a friend from Alabama Shakespeare Festival and her two sons! An early request was for a flying owl! But one young man put in a special request for toys for all the sick kids. He certainly has the Christmas spirit!
Then there was the boy who asked for coal, he explained to me that he saw a video where all you had to do was take a piece of coal, rub it with peanut butter, put it in with ice and it turns into a diamond. Well, maybe all those on the naughty list have a chance to get something after all! BTW, There is no age limit for Santa's lap: There were several requests for unicorns, probably because there was a stuffed 3' tall one right next to where I was sitting. One little one wanted a big unicorn, "Bigger than you" she said! And another little girl asked for a remote control unicorn!
Sunday Santa was at Blue Water Grill for brunch with several families present! Several of the pictures I have included came from these young artists. Among their requests were a bearded dragon, a bird, maybe a parrot but then I explained how long parrots can live! Someone wanted goalie pants and another wanted a REAL blow dart!
I have to close with some advice I got from a three year old Sunday: "Do not take the elevator because you will get stuck and die in it!"
This week Santa will be at the Hotline Festival of Trees followed by the tree lighting in downtown Manteo on Friday.
Saturday will find Santa riding a fire truck in the Manteo Parade followed by Winter wonderland at MES, then off to Southern Crossing til 6pm (A full Day!)
Sunday starts with Breakfast with Santa at The Dunes sponsored by Village Realty , Then Blue Water again followed by Monkey Business from 4 to 7!
PS: I took the elevator anyway because I don't do stairs if I don't have to! And I lived!

5

Santa at Southern Crossing November 24th, 2018

Wow, I forgot just how exhausting this time of year gets! Of course today, in addition to a Santa appearance I went to church and Sunday School, wash, dried and sorted 4 loads of laundry, sewed a button on one Santa suit, which meant I needed to reinforce the other buttons so they wouldn't fall off in the middle of a gig, put up some Christmas lights and wreaths and now I am sitting down to write how the last few Santa appearances went.

This entry may have two parts, if I fall asleep writing! I am weary, I find! Yesterday Santa started with a bang at Southern Crossing, we had someone in the place constantly from 10 until 11:30. I'm not sure how many it was but There were several families that I knew and that always makes it more fun! Had a couple of extended families and that brought new meaning to herding cats in a thunderstorm. All in all it was a great time and we ended up with some great pictures. Had one friend who was there with her two little ones and I think she maybe going to have a Christmas baby. She asked me to explain Santa have to might visit their house on a night other than Christmas Eve! Santa is keeping his fingers crossed for them!

Santa received several very special pictures which I will share in a later post and a delicious muffin prepared by one young friend and taste tested by her sister! I also have a sampling of Christmas lists to share with all y'all! There was one puppy in for a picture, it was a Golden/doodle, a breed I'm not familiar with, but cute as a bug! One of the first requests I got was for a fake mustache, then there was the young fellow that wants a hot tub! Legos are still very popular as are LOL dolls and Nintendo Switch! But I had one request for a tree house and another a drill set. Then someone wanted a golf set, pants, shoes and glove! One of the more unusual combinations was the little guy that wanted workout shorts, cashmere hoodie and a drill set!  There was one who wanted a backscratcher. You know sometimes the younger ones get right to the point: one little guy wanted a ball! Baseball, football, basketball, didn’t matter, he just wanted a ball! Another wanted a TRAIN, all caps. There was also a request for "a car with a helicopter on top that shoots water in the bathtub" Sounds like fun at bath time, at least he's in the tub! Then there was the one who wanted a boat powered by a rocket and a zoomer puppy!

Well that's as far as I'm going tonight, more to follow tomorrow when I'll tell you about the boy who wants coal! But first I have to close with this thought: I have frequently said I have the best job in the world at this time of year and I want to TRY to explain what I mean when I say that. I am lucky enough to experience the love of all these wonderful children and I try to help them realize in some small way that we all love them too and this season is all about love!

And that's the story from Santa's lap for tonight!