December is the holiday season for many religions. Immediately after Thanksgiving, and often even beforehand, Christmas decorations and merchandise appear in shop windows, homes, and lawns. Soon, shopping frenzy begins.
In stores and shopping centers, you can not only buy Christmas presents, but also visit with Santa Claus. Santa is present at a number of stores and shopping centers in Ann Arbor, such as Briarwood mall and Kerrytown Market and Shops. Briarwood’s display of snow and animals is centered around Santa’s “house”. Until 7 or 8 o’clock each evening, parents and their kids line up to see Santa.
Joe Gannon attended the Briarwood event with his grandchildren, and not for the first time this season. They come every year, something that Gannon did as a child. Now, all he wants for Christmas is world peace.
Another parent waiting in line was Kristy Iverson. Iverson’s daughter was eager to see Santa and tell him about her Dora Christmas wishes. As for Iverson, she said, “I’m still waiting on my Barbie Dream House.”
The set-up in Kerrytown is more modest, one decorated pine tree behind Santa’s chair. When Kerrytown’s Mr. Claus arrived, he came ringing a string of jingle bells and calling, “Ho, ho ho!”. Customers passing through stopped to say hello, and parents took pictures of their kids on Santa’s lap.
Although Briarwood’s Santa was unavailable to comment, the Santa at Kerrytown shared somethings about his magical life. The people who come to sit on Santa’s lap range from weeks old to about 80 years old. The strangest thing a kid has ever asked him is why he wears a belt . It turns out that he just wears a belt to keep his pants up. Santa has three outfits, all of which Mrs. Claus has made for him. He lost one, however, when the washing machine dyed the fur pink.
Rudolph is Santa’s favorite reindeer, “because of his nose. I like his nose,” he said. Reindeer are “…really gray, and brownish, and their antlers are furry…and even the female reindeer have antlers”. His sleigh works through a combination of
jet propulsion and magnetics, which lifts it up, and the reindeer take it from there.
Keeping flying reindeer is only one of the perks of living on the North Pole, where he doesn’t get lonely. “You heard of the Internet? We get great satellite,” he said. Santa encourages you to find him on Facebook, where he has a lot of friends.
And don’t be surprised if you find out your new lab partner is actually an elf. Apparently, Santa’s elves are always around, undercover. “…they’re all over the place. They’re like spies, really.” When they’re not keeping Santa’s naughty/nice list accurate and making toys, the elves keep people believing. Santa said about his doubters, “Usually my elf takes care of that, and he tells them, ‘You better believe in [Santa Claus].’”
During the rest of the year, Santa is kept busy yelling at his elves and eating cookies. About his job, Santa said, “Once you start, you’re toast. That’s it. You’re in for life.” And for Santa, “life” means something different than it might to another person. He is now 812 years old, and still loves what he does.
Santa’s favorite Christmas tree ornament is the star. “Cause every tree has it’s own star, and they’re all different,” he said. Santa wants to remind the children of the world to “be good and obey your parents…always believe in Santa, have faith,” and he wants to emphasize that you’re never too old to believe.
Click below to hear Kerrytown Santa’s laugh
