From the CBC:
“Why there aren't enough
Santas to go around in some parts of Canada”
Thanks to vaccinations against
COVID-19 and the easing of some public health restrictions, Canadians are going
to be seeing a lot more of Santa in 2021 than they did last year. But there's a
catch. Your chances of landing a pre-Christmas visit with Santa at the mall or
having him drop in at a work party or event may depend on where you live. In
some parts of the country, there aren't enough Santas to go around for live
visits, in part because some jolly old elves don't feel safe visiting in person
yet. In other areas, Santas are sitting idle with few jobs because of high
COVID-19 case counts. Last year, Santa received national clearance as an
essential worker to take flight on Dec. 24, but at ground level, the pandemic
is still a problem for his working representatives and the companies who place
them. "It's going crazy," said Jeff Gilroy, manager of Just Be Claus,
a talent agency for Christmas characters based in Bradford, Ont. "I've
turned away probably about 200 events."
Santas back in business at big
malls Mall visits with Santa are back on in Ontario, British Columbia and
other provinces after widespread cancellations last year. Both Cadillac
Fairview and Oxford Properties have brought Santas back to shopping centres
with COVID-19 safety precautions in place and pre-booked appointments instead
of lineups. Mina Caringi, the property manager of Oxford's Scarborough
Town Centre in the east end of Toronto, says customers started asking about a
Santa return in October. "They haven't had their Santa photos in
quite some time, so they've really been looking forward to welcoming him
back." With pre-booked slots, there's a limited supply of visits,
so unless parents plan ahead, there will be kids who only see Santa from a
distance.
COVID fears, paperwork
problems add to shortage Gilroy and Just Be Claus are supplying
Santa's to three Oxford malls, and he has about 25 Santas on his roster. His
St. Nicks are fully booked, but he's getting up to 30 calls a day for them, so
he's pitching customers on other Christmas characters, including the Grinch. "Maybe
you do the Grinch and have a bit of a naughty Christmas," said Gilroy, who
claims his expensive Grinch costume competes with the best Santas for
attention. In Vancouver, Rozmin Watson of Hire a Santa says she's "never
had so many bookings in the period of 10 or 12 days" as she did this
earlier this month. Even though she has up to 120 Santas on her roster across
Canada, depending on the year, she's struggling to manage a surge of requests
coming in from Ontario and B.C. as restrictions on social gatherings have
loosened. "There's definitely a shortage." Watson says
while a number of her Santas are sitting out because of their age and fears
about contracting COVID-19, others don't have up-to-date criminal record
checks.
Virtual visits still favoured
by some Santas Some Santas who are limiting live visits
or avoiding them altogether are still seeing kids because they learned how to
do virtual visits last year. One such tech-savvy Kris Kringle is Santa
Paul from Janetville, Ont. The popular Santa in his 70s normally has a
slate full of special event appearances and home visits, but for 2021 he's
still doing only virtual visits. "I'm double vaccinated, and I'm
about to get my booster shot as well. But the vital link for us is having the
children vaccinated." The virtual model allows working Santas to go
international, taking visits with kids from around the world. Santa Gee from
Sarnia, Ont., has sessions booked with kids from Ireland, Russia and Japan. "I'm
playing with time zones around the world," said Santa Gee, who charges $45
US for virtual sessions of eight to 10 minutes. He rented a small studio space
for his video shoots and is also taking on live appearances to help pay for it.
Sad Santas are wanting for
work in Alberta In Alberta, instead of a shortage of Santas, there's a shortage
of work — to the point where one Calgary Santa went south for some sun. Santa
Jeff is at his vacation workshop in Lake Havasu, Ariz. He would normally
have 30 bookings at this time of year, about six weeks of work. But this year
he's got a total of just 10 appearances in his calendar, up from none last
year. Santa Jeff says other Alberta Santas he knows are facing the same
troubles because of the province's COVID-19 case count. "Everybody's
just still leery of it," he said. "The malls have cut back big time,
the corporate functions are pretty well non-existent." Though he's
going back to Calgary for his appearances, Santa Jeff is feeling a bit lost in
the desert without the joy that comes from seeing excited kids. "There's
something missing, it's like, what's going on? What am I sitting here, it's
Santa's time," said the retired oil worker who'll soon turn 70. "It
really tears at the heart. I miss it a lot."
Will the Kris Kringle crisis
continue? In Nova Scotia, COVID-19 continues to mess with the market for
Santas as well. Eighty per cent of Nova Scotians are fully vaccinated,
and social gatherings of up to 25 people indoors and up to 50 outdoors are
allowed without masks or social distancing. Even so, "at the
beginning of the season, bookings were kind of slow," says one of the
province's best-known St. Nicks, Santa Floyd. While Santa Floyd is back
in his regular chair for visits at a Halifax sporting goods store, his
corporate party bookings are down 90 per cent for the second year in a row. Once
again, he's filling the gap with bookings for small family gatherings and visits.
N.S. mall Santa not giving up
on Christmas visits despite pandemic In the past 10 days, he booked visits
for every day he's not at his store gig and says he wishes there were more Kris
Kringles to help. "I know people are struggling. They call me up. They
say, 'Can you do this event or come to my home?' And I have to tell them, 'No,
I'm already booked. '"A 40-year veteran of the red suit, 65-year-old Santa
Floyd is worried about the long-term Santa supply in his province. "I
do believe there's going to be a Santa shortage," he said. "I haven't
seen any new recruits as of yet."
^ It’s sad to see some parts of
Canada have an acute shortage of Santas and other parts have too many, but no
work. I don’t think Remote Santas are the way to go. They aren’t personal and
they don’t give the children – especially the very young – a sense of
Christmas. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.