It was almost the year without a Santa Claus
ABOVE: Santa Rick Banks with his wife, Annie, as Mrs. Claus, during a Zoom call. BELOW: Santa Dan Greenleaf touches the plexiglass at Cabela’s Bass Pro Shop in Hooksett. Sean Hurley photos / NH Public Radio
Santa Dan Greenleaf touches the plexiglass at Cabela s Bass Pro Shop in Hooksett. Sean Hurley / NH Public Radio
Published: 12/23/2020 6:38:23 PM
At the summer meeting of the New England Santa Claus Society there was talk that this might be a year without Santa Claus. At least at the malls and stores.
And while many Santas opted to go virtual and the Kris Kringle business is way down, you can still find a Santa here or there, socially distanced, wearing a mask, likely behind a plexiglass wall.
Listen to the radio version of the story here.
Santa Rick Banks, a proud member of the National Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, sits before a laptop in the basement of his house in Chichester and adjusts the camera to make sure the Christmas tree behind him can be seen. “This year we have gone virtual,” Santa Rick says, “we ve done some real live gigs as we call them. But they ve been socially distanced.”
Santa Rick Banks with his wife Annie as Mrs. Claus during a Zoom call.
Credit Sean Hurley
One unexpected problem with those live gigs, he says – there’s a certain kind of kid who – if you happen to be Santa Claus - will make a run at you. “I m pretty good with the moves,” he says, “I mean, sometimes you get one that runs right at you and you got to you know, be like a bullfighter.”
Friends send love to Santa Dan as he recovers from surgeries, COVID-19 kearneyhub.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kearneyhub.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.