Well, the first weekend of Santa at the Springs Preserve is history. After arriving from Utah on the airplane, I had a problem to solve. The Santa belt I had purchased from Williams costume did not hold up when I wore it for the grandkids. The holes ripped right out. So while I was waiting on the curb for my ride (from Bill) about 10am, I called around to boot and leather shops for a sturdier belt. I finally found Mike at Tandy Leather who said he would make me one that night for the next day. That was great, but it didn't help me for my 1:00 appearance at Gardineers or my four hours at the Springs Preserve that night. So I ran over to Tandy to finalized the deal. I expected him to charge me more than a hundred dollars, but he said $20! I said I should get two, then he said that'll be another 5 dollars. Oh, the Santa magic! Plus there was a little 5 year old boy in the store who truly thought he was seeing Santa. His parents asked me to talk to him so I did. What a sweet experience. They told me the next day when I picked up my belts that the kid was sky-high the rest of the day. I love this job!
Anyway, I still didn't have a belt to that day, so I ran over to Williams Costume and got another of the same kind of $20 belt that fell apart and thought I would be real careful. Besides, I needed another buckle, which Mike was attaching to the new leather belts. I went to Gardineers and made it ok, then took the belt to Barbara, our theatre group seamstress to reinforce for the show that night.
At Gardineers, I staged in the garage, but they delayed so long, several adults and teenagers came through the garage. When they saw me, they all jumped and were startled. Who expects to see the real Santa Claus hiding in their garage?! Then after I came back out of the house, George and Eula Mae, who had come from Virginia, where we had known them for years, came into the garage and we had a nice visit before I left.
The show that night at the Preserve was incredible. I mean, all I do is talk to kids, but each one is an adventure and they all have their story. I even had some adults sit and give me they list. Even one Jewish lady.
I have two elves who help direct the kids and their guardians. , the redheaded Dwarfus (Norma, l) and Elfus (Louisa, r). During the half hour break at 7:30, they go to another amphitheatre and perform in a short Scrooge play for the kids.
One little girl brought her actual list, which totally filled two pages. I made no promises, to the relief of the parents.
So much fun!
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