A beginning

At the request of many people(at least two) I am starting a blog about what I have learned in Santa's chair over the years.  We will begin with the first time I put on the suit(actually one of 6) this year.  It started with a parade:On Saturday, November 19
     Now the Grand Arrival Parade at The Shoppes at EastChase   is not a long parade.  It basically goes down one side of the Main Street of the open air shopping mall and back the other, but to make up for the shortness we did it twice.
     Ms. Claus(her one appearance of the year) and I arrived about 8:45 for the 9:30 parade.  The staging area was packed.  There were two different dance/gymnastic groups of about 60 little girls each, two horsedrawn carriages, a minature train, about a dozen pickup trucks filled with different groups, and a Balloon Man!  What else could you ask for?  Oh, the marching band was staging elsewhere.
     It did give me a chance to "work the crowd", wandering through the various groups, giving out hugs, letting my picture be taken, etc.
Just something any Santa worth his Pom-Pom(fur ball at the tip of the Santa hat) knows how to do instinctively!
    Well, the parade went on.  Ms. Claus & I rode in a carriage pulled by Duke and  ?, who were marvelous, big, beautiful animals.  We waved our arms off the entire route of the parade and ended at Preister's Pecans where Santa would be sharing the store for the next 6 weeks.
    After I settled into the big chair, I learned a lot that first day.
Here is just a little of the wisdom I gained:

I saw a little girl that wanted a helmet, my first thought was football, but it turns out she was talkin about a bike helmet!

There was little boy who, though  he liked candy, wouldn't take any, because he was watching his weight

I talked to a lovely older lady, who just wanted another year so she could come back and sit on my lap again.

Lastly there was a little girl with her list written on her palm. It included Gift certificates at the New York store for Mom and Bass Pro Shop  for Dad    I told her to tell her Dad about the one for mom.  And her Mom about the one for Dad

My memory is not the best but those are the ones that stood out that first day.


(I reserve the right to edit this first entry anytime I think it needs it)