Santa’s pre-Christmas visits a little different this year
You all know the song. ‘You’d better watch out, you’d better not cry. You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.’
Those words still ring true this year, despite the COVID19 pandemic, which has necessitated practising social distancing and mask-wearing. These are impacting the big man himself this year, too. It means that while visits with Santa are still on this year’s Christmas menu, things will be working a little differently.
The pandemic has impacted different regions of the East Coast differently, which means that Santa will be spending his time with children a little differently too, province by province. But everyone will have a chance to see him and share their Christmas lists and, on Christmas Eve, he’ll be visiting houses as per usual.
“This is a time of year we don’t want to forfeit. We want to enjoy it as much as we can, and Santa wants that for everyone too: for them to stay as safe as possible. He is staying safe until December 24, so that he is in good health for his Christmas Eve travels,” says Karen Kennedy, promotions director at the Villages Shopping Centre in St. John’s, NL.
VISITING VIRTUALLY
Kennedy says that when she and her team spoke with Mr. Claus, they decided together that it was best for him to visit with kids virtually this year. So, while he won’t be appearing in person at the mall, the usual Christmas Village display will be up in full swing, with decorations and Christmas music decking the mall’s halls.
This means that the mall’s famously large Christmas tree, which spans two floors and is visible from the mall’s centre court, will also be there for families to take photos in front of, even though Santa can’t visit.
“Santa helped us realize that this was best in terms of keeping families safe, along with Santa himself, Mrs. Claus and the elves. So instead, we’ll be setting up a Zoom link so that families can visit with Santa virtually through Zoom,” says Kennedy.
The mall will host five virtual visits beginning Nov. 28, with one every Saturday until Santa takes off on Christmas Eve. Zoom links will be posted on the mall’s website, which families can use to access each visit, and will also post recordings in case any children cannot make the scheduled times.
Kennedy says Santa has been practising to ensure he can use Zoom properly.
“Behind every successful Santa is a very strong and knowledgeable Mrs. Claus, so it’s been a bit of a learning curve for them, just like us, but they’re doing a really good job,” she says.
Jolly Old Saint Nick has also been hard at work alongside the elves in planning activities for the Zoom visits, which will include magic books, Christmas carols and some baking, too.
“He’s a little nervous, because he’s not a tremendous baker, but Mrs. Claus is there to help him, too,” says Kennedy.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Planning his visits with families this year has been a hard one for Santa, as for the rest of us, as he navigates the everchanging COVID-19 situation and the health guidelines that exist in each province.
This means he has had to make some difficult decisions and, according to Strathallen Property Management senior property manager Janet Carrigan, it means he won’t be visiting Summerside’s County Fair Mall in person this season. But he’s given families in the area something that not every family is fortunate enough to receive from him: a letter written just for them.
“The letter we received from Santa will be in the mall’s Christmas display, where he normally is. It explains he made this choice to stay safe and avoid getting sick, so he’d be well enough to deliver presents on Christmas Eve,” says Carrigan.
“He knows this will help keep children and families safe, too.”
Carrigan says the Christmas display will have stationery and envelopes for children to write their own letters to Santa, with a mailbox with one postal code it delivers to: H0H 0H0.
Santa is trying out a bunch of different ways to communicate and visit with children this year, in-cluding a limited number of in-person appearances. The man in red will make an appearance at the Confederation Court Mall in Charlottetown, where Dyne Holdings marketing manager Julian Taylor says Santa will sit behind a plexiglass barricade to again ensure his and families’ safety.
Visits will kick off Nov. 27,
alongside the city’s famous Victorian Christmas Market, and a mall-wide scavenger hunt will keep families and their children busy as they await their allotted time with Santa, who has been visiting this specific mall display for the last three decades.
“When I spoke to Santa and Mrs. Claus, he told me it was important to have this tradition, as it’s important for kids to get all of the fun holiday aspects of the Christmas holiday season that we all got growing up as well,” says Taylor.
NOVA SCOTIA
Santa, Mrs. Claus and local Christmas volunteers will pair up in Yarmouth, where Mr. Claus will be sporting a handmade mask, courtesy of Mrs. Claus, specifically designed to accommodate his glasses and beard.
Yarmouth Mall property manager Linda Deveau says that so long as Yarmouth continues to experience zero COVID-19 cases, Santa will head down for socially distanced, in-person visits with children and their families beginning the weekend of Dec. 5, and will continue each weekend until Christmas Eve.
Other than its socially distant set up and mask policies, Deveau says the Christmas display will look essentially the same.
“We’ll also have two stools as part of Santa’s display, so children will sit on those stools to visit with Santa rather than sitting on his knee. When he heard Santa would be coming to Yarmouth, our photographer said he’d also be happy to provide photos,” says Deveau.
If the pandemic does reach Yarmouth by December, Santa’s team will pivot fast – almost faster than his famous reindeers can fly – to instead partner with a local radio station and have letters to Santa and a phone-in timeslot, where children can call and speak with Santa live on the air.
Deveau is hoping the mall’s in-person plan can move forward but says she has worked with Santa to ensure they are prepared with backup plans if not.
“I think Santa and his helpers are feeling confident. They’ll be able to interact with young people within our community either in person – socially distant and masked – or through technology. Santa will make his presence known to the young ones in some form or another,” says Deveau.
“Between these two options, we’ll make sure it happens.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Facility managers will continue meeting with Dr. Robert Strang, Dr. Heather Morrison and Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and will follow any recommendations or changes suggested in their respective provinces. Contact each mall directly for up-to-date information.
Bryce Rea Boswell, 87, passed away peacefully Sunday, November 22, 2020 surrounded by family at the Garden Home in Charlottetown, PEI. Bryce was born in Mineola, Long Island on October 26th, 1933 to Keith and Ruth Boswell (MacGregor) of Victoria, PE while Ruth was visiting her sister who resided in New York. He was the youngest of seven children. Growing up in Victoria, Bryce expressed a love for agriculture and animals from a young age. He worked the family farm, Lealands where they raised Ayrshire cattle and stabled Standardbred race horses. He graduated from Prince of Whales High School in 1951. He then left his home to serve in the U.S. military 82nd Airborne Division. After an honourable discharge and service he returned to Canada to study at Macdonald college in Montreal, Quebec where he met his beautiful bride and wife of 55 years, Joan Amanda Gallup. They were later married in a family ceremony in Joan’s hometown of Richmond, Quebec in 1962. In 1971 Bryce would return to the States with his family to study forestry at Unity College in Unity, Maine. He returned to PEI with his family following graduation and took a job in forestry while running the family farm where he would reside most of his life until his retirement in 1994. Apart from managing the farm, and his job, Bryce enjoyed a successful career in showing and judging Hereford cattle alongside his wife, Joan. He also had a love for music and poetry, and could often be found in his kitchen late into the evening sharing a story, a song or a dance among family and friends. A beloved family dog was always close by as Bryce enjoyed raising many in his day. Bryce is survived by his wife, Joan; son, John; daughters Jeanie and Heather along with his daughter-in-law Karina Wipper Boswell and son-in-law David Campbell and four grandchildren, Alex, Mark, Leah and Noah. He is also survived by his sisters, Maylea Manning and Ruth Schiller and his sister-inlaw, Cathy Boswell. He was predeceased in death by his parents and sister, Jean Howatt (Charles), three older brothers Edward, David (Beverley) and Allan Boswell, his son-in-law, Kevin Campbell and brothersinRalph Manning and John Schiller. Resting at Belvedere Funeral Home where a private family (invitation only) funeral will be held in the funeral home chapel. Bryce will be laid to rest in Floral Hills Memorial Gardens in Pleasant Valley, PEI. Memorial donations may be made online to the PEI Humane Society. Online condolences may be shared at www.belvederefh.com