Welcome a New Decade

Santa has gone back to the North Pole to rest, so my PS and I go through the ritual 'deshedding' of the character. The suits are cleaned, bagged and stored to be brought out next season. And my PS gets his hair cut and shaves down the beard - the transformation to 'civilian' is complete.

It was a decent season. We had enough bookings to make the transformation (growing in the beard and hair from August - on) worthwhile. I hope we can get back to the number of bookings that we had from 2000 to 2006, but the economy affects everyone. And, of course, our regulars grow up and may not need the reinforcement of a visit from Santa. I still think the adults get more out of the visits, but they usually will not hire a Santa for their own enjoyment - it is 'for the children.'

My PS is a professional, and I really see that aspect on those years when we have personal setbacks, but 'the show must go on.' This has been a hard year for a our little family; financial problems and personal losses. This year we tragically lost four of our cats, and anyone who has loved a pet knows the pain that you feel when these things happen. They had been with us for over 15 years, and their deaths were complications due to their age, but there is that void now. But I saw my PS take to his gigs so nobody would ever know we had to give the final gift that day to one of our 'babies.' I admire that.

The weather was the usual - every year we have at least one gig that occurs during a major snow storm. We send contracts to our bookings, primarily to cover us in the event of a sudden cancellation by the party, and a Force Majeure clause to cover us in case weather or illness causes us to cancel. I wanted to use it this year, as we had a storm that did not have a lot of snow, but a lot of ice on the roads. Ice scares me. But we made it and the gig went well.

Maybe next year more people will use our services. It is a new decade after all...

Surprise Bookings

My PS was very well liked in our previous home town. We very rarely wanted for bookings and often repeat customers would rearrange their scheduled parties in order to be sure my PS would be the entertainment. I think the most surprising was an entire town's tree lighting was moved in order to have my PS be the one to light the tree! The same town did not want to hear that a blizzard would prevent him from attending the festivities - they sent their fire chief over to our house to drive him over the treacherous roads to light their tree. Could make for an inflated ego, but we are just amazed and humbled.

This year, the same town insisted that we drive the three hours to have my PS light their tree again. So we called some of our repeat customers and asked if they would like to have a Santa visit that weekend as well. While we might have driven that distance for the one booking, it is better to combine trips, save gas, and allow some people who were disappointed with our moving away an opportunity to have a Santa visit. It is amazing to me, but almost all said 'yes' and we have a full weekend of bookings. In addition, a good friend is letting us stay in her guest room - her feeling is that it is a tradition that we stay with her one weekend over each Christmas season. So that worked out.

We are still working on building the reputation in our new home area. This involves the same concepts as any new business - advertising, networking, offering reduced prices, etc. A surprise booking came through a local restaurant - entertaining at the annual dinner for the organization that my PS is a part of during the 'off-season. ' With the current economy, my PS probably picked a bad time to be a realtor, but the association is having a holiday party and my PS is the featured entertainment. And no, they did not realize he is a Professional Santa - good thing, or they might expect him to entertain for free! The whole thing is kinda funny, but it can be considered networking. Or, at least a gig on a Wednesday night.

Princeton

As I write this, we are getting 6 to 10 inches of snow. Appropriate for Christmas, but can be miserable for getting to a gig. But more on that later. The Lighting of the Christmas Tree in Princeton, NJ went wonderfully well. Ten to fifteen thousand people all watching my PS, as well as a band, dancers - a great show! This year there was a script with elves played by the local high school thespians and more lights than ever. Beautiful night, cool, not too cold. After leading the crowd in the counting down to the lighting, Santa leaves and all the spectators go about the real business of Christmas = Shopping! But this year several families followed Santa off stage to tell him how much they enjoyed the show and to get pictures with Santa. This is the first time in the over ten years my PS has been doing the tree lighting that this has happened!

Now, what does Ms Claus do during all this? I hide in the hotel room and watch the festivities from the window. Not that I do not have the Holiday Spirit, but I know my PS - he needs to keep his mind on what he is doing and not have to worry about me in the crowd. Besides, I have noticed that sometimes he drops character around me, and we cannot have that happen!