Tonight I helped the Access Food drive in Medford by dressing up as Santa while food donations were collected on a street whre every house is beautifully lit with Christmas lights. The neighborhood has made it it a tradition there and the event, which gets many thousands of cars over several nights, raises thousands in food and money for the needy. When the guy came in for the next shift and I gave him the suit and he took over, I noticed how I’d passed the celebrity on to him the moment he stepped out, and realized how being Santa, even for just a few hours, was really something special.

Being Santa is a very unique experience, especially fun with the kids who are about 2-4 who think “wow, this is REALLY Santa Claus”. Most of the kids have seen enough Santas that they are polite and enthusiastic, but the look from those few little ones who figure you really are the big guy himself are absolutely priceless. Also nice is the friendliness of almost everybody who drives by, old and young, waving back and wishing Santa a Merry Christmas.

HO HO HO, MERRRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS!