Celebrate Santa 2009: March 2009 Archives

Santa and Mrs. Claus are headed north after the conclusion of the Celebrate Santa 2009 convention. Here's his final report from Gatlinburg.

Hello Friends and Family,

Well, it is all over, but what a glorious time, visiting with old friends and making new friends.

The parade was a grand success. You can read all about it in this report from the Associated Press. The Knoxville News had a reporter there, too, and here is a gallery of the photos they took of the Holly and Shamrock Parade. There will be more information on www.CelebrateSanta.com. I am looking forward to next year when we gather again.

We will share more of what Mrs. Claus and I have learned in the future.

All our love,

Santa and Mrs. Claus

P. S. Here is just a little bit from the AP story about Celebrate Santa:

The convention, running three days through Wednesday at the Gatlinburg Convention Center, is a chance for them to hone their holiday craft by learning tips on how to be a better Santa and checking out the finest offerings in Santa wear and gear.

It's the largest gathering of its kind, and it's only the 12th Celebrate Santa convention that's taken place since the first one 70 years ago.

Phil Wenz, a Santa from Crescent City, Ill., instructed a workshop on the history of Santa in the 20th century with topics ranging from legendary Santas like Charles W. Howard and the Santa Claus School he created in 1937 in Midland, Mich.

"It's a source of inspiration for these guys," Wenz said.

Other workshops included hair care, magic and ventriloquism instruction, mall Santa etiquette, a session called "Reindeer 101" and something for the most modern Santas -- podcasting....

Later in the afternoon, the Santas lined up for the "Holly and Shamrock" parade, celebrating both their favorite holiday and the holiday of the day: St. Patrick's Day....

The parade featured juggling Santas, elves dressed like leprechauns and a Santa band. Other Santas marched in groups such as the "Florida 'Sandie' Clauses" and the "Yes, Virginia, these are your Santa Clauses" groups.

Note from Santa's web elf: This week Santa David is at the Celebrate Santa convention in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Here's his latest missive.

Hello, Family and Friends,

Well, here it is, the end of Day 2 at the Convention. Our day got off to a frantic start. Because of the time change just a week ago, then another time change just before we got to Gatlinburg, our internal clocks were pretty much all goofed up and we woke up at 8:00 am Eastern Daylight Savings time. The meeting started at 8:30 am.

We got there just a few minutes late. Thank goodness, they had Santa's favorite snack. MILK AND COOKIES, of course.

After introductions and greetings from the organizers, we got on to the business of Santa.

First thing we did was take a special oath, promising to be the best Santa I can. You can see the all of the oath and its history here. The recitation and signing of this document put us into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest signing of an oath. WOOOW!!!

Afterwards, we began to attend some classes on being a better Santa. My first class was historical information about early day Santas, 1800-1899. Santa Jr (Jim Morrison of Lancaster, Pa.) is the curator of the National Christmas Center, a museum dedicated to preserving the meaning of Christmas. If we have time, we may return through there on our way home.

During lunch we heard a Christian young man named Trevor Thomas who was very funny and entertaining. We attended his class on stage presence after lunch.

After the classes, we went to the trade show, where there were lots of products to help us to look and act better. We walked around for about two hours before we decided it was supper time.

I have pictures of the convention up on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/santa_tulsa.

Tomorrow will be a BIG day. We will be joining Saint Patrick for a big parade in his honor. There will be bands, floats, reindeer and Saint Patrick, Saint Nicholas, and lots and lots of Santa Clauses, Mrs. Clauses, and elves and helpers. So until tomorrow....

The meaning of Christmas is the Love of our Lord for us through His Son JESUS.

Santa and Mrs. Claus

(You can read more about Celebrate Santa 2009 on the official Celebrate Santa blog!)

Santa is at the Celebrate Santa convention in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and will be sending daily updates.

Greetings, friends and family, from the heartland of Shamrock and Holly and a sea of Green and Red! (Mostly red.)

Mrs. Claus and I arrived safely in Gatlinburg this afternoon, then had to wait two hours to get into our room.

You have never seen so many fat men with white beards and red clothes running around claiming to be me.

Made lot of new acquaintances. Renewed some old ones. It appears it is going to be bigger than the event in Branson in 2006.

No pictures yet -- it took over an hour to figure out how to work their internet connection here.

Will send an update tomorrow. Weather is promising to be in the 60s and sunny on Tuesday for the parade. It has got to be the Luck of the Irish, plus who wants to upset that many Santas????!!!!

Love,
Santa and Mrs. Claus