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NEWS
Life and times of a mall Santa
by Jeanette Stewart
(read)
Ringing in 2005
by Julie Folk
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Big Valley goes country
by Jeanette Stewart
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Canadian Hepatitis C scandal exposed
by Darcie Keith
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Schick chair in social justice
by Cassie Hawrysh
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100 years down
by Shanna Schulhauser
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Inexpensive education and enlightenment
by Shanna Schulhauser
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Youth Action Now
Multiculturalism in Sask
by Aaron Moore
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FEATURES
Christmas shopping on a budget
by Josh Pagé
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ARTS
Alexander the entertaining
by Luke Annand
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DOA in ’05
A look into deaths of the future
by Emily Elias
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The Best In music 2004
by Kent Fargo & Dan MacRae
(read)
Best of television 2004
by Dan MacRae & Steven Kiser
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The year in concerts, 2004
by Kent Farago
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The Year of the Monkey
by Aaron Moore
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SPORTS
To win or not to win
by Greg Urbanoski
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Eyes on Sports
Get him out of here!
by Morgan Bradshaw
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Fit as a Fiddle
Shall we dance?
by Julie Folk
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Get active like never before
by Chris Jaster
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My Christmas wish list
by Dan MacRae
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COMMENTARY
Fashion faux pas
Editoral
by Dan MacRae
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Resolution to resolute
Commentary
by Aaron Moore
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Confessions of a Freshman
You can’t go home again
by Amy O’Teri
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Christmas in denial
by Ashley Martin
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Loud and Proud
A commentary on Latter Days
by Mazdak Chinichian
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The new over-achievers
School mating rituals
by Michele Dawson
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Life and times of a mall Santa
by Jeanette Stewart
the Carillon
The man behind the beard
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There’s more to life for mall Santas, though we probably don’t consider the other 11 months of the year not spent decked out in red. Take Cecil Chambers as an example.
Chambers got his Santa position through Kid’s Help Phone. He was selling 50/50 draw tickets for the organization and was approached to do the Santa Claus gig.
“I thought about it and before the week was over I said, yeah, I’ll try it.”
Chambers has been working as a mall Santa for the past five years. He works for Kid’s Help Phone on a volunteer basis, but is also the resident Santa at the Golden Mile Shopping Centre one day a week.
Chambers does his Santa gig at the Southland Mall on Sundays and Mondays, which is a step down from what he used to do. Although he does work six-hour days, it is only on a part-time basis.
“When I first started, I did it every day except for the weekend,” Chambers said. Though he said he does not get tired, it sometimes gets a little hot in his suit.
Chambers owns his own suit, and said, “I just bought it a couple years or so ago. It’s nice and light. You sit in one of these for six hours and it can get pretty warm.”
Poor Santa! The traditional North Pole attire must be a bit too toasty for indoor shopping malls.
“I like my own suit, especially the beard.”
Kid’s Help Phone cleans the suit, but, as Chambers said, “It’s just nice to have your own.” One beard does not fit all!
So what does “Santa” do when he isn’t HoHoHo-ing at the Golden Mile or Southland? Though Chambers said he is by no means the busiest Santa in Regina, he does have other engagements. Chambers recently filmed a commercial for CTV and has another job coming up with the Regina Pats. Chambers has even done a private engagement, he said “for a lady a couple of years ago, just South of Regina, on a farm. She was having her grand-kids over and she asked me if I would do Santa, so I did.”
Being Santa keeps Chambers pretty busy during the Christmas season. Contrary to popular belief, however, Santa does not spend the rest of the year crafting toys for little children. Chambers said, “the rest of the year I’m retired.”
Chambers said one of the best rewards of the job is seeing all the little children. At times, though, they are a bit wary of sitting on the knee of a stranger in a bright red suit.
“You take the kid for a walk around the mall and bring them back two or three times, and eventually they will come. It just takes them a little while to realize what is going on, but they start to recognize me after a while.”
One little girl walked by several times with her mother. Chambers said, “She knows and talks about it, but when she comes up to me she turns around.” She looked a little scared, but probably warmed up to the idea eventually. He said this usually happens, especially among younger children.
Chambers said another reward comes when he sees people he knows in the mall. Often they will look at him and think they know who it is, but don’t really know for sure who it is.
“I look forward to doing it,” said Chambers of his seasonal masquerade. He agrees it makes Christmas more special and said, “as long as my health is good, I’ll continue for quite some time.”
After all, who doesn’t want to be Santa Claus?
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