Here Comes Sant Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus

It was not long after we bought our first golf cart that the issue came up of what we could do at Christmas Time. It would be nice to do something to liven things up for the kids. After all, they were away from home, probably for the first time in their lives, and it was Christmas time, too. Someone came up with the idea for Elsie and me to dress up like Santa Claus and his wife and go around the campground and hand out candies to the kids. It wasn't long before someone had rounded up a nice red Santa suit for each of us with shiny black leggings, pointed hats with a white tassel on the top and whiskers for me. We looked quite authentic when we were all decked out in these new suits.

Soon we had a good quantity of candies and we were ready to go. The golf cart was decked out with silver trim around the edges of the top. Shortly after dark, we were on our way around the campgrounds. We had a melodious sounding bell to shake and I let out plenty of loud Ho-Ho-Hos. We weren't really prepared for the enthusiastic response we received. It seemed like just everyone came out to see us and there were a lot more kids than we had expected.

To our amazement we had kids sitting on our knees while their parents were snapping pictures. We were generous with our candies but not wasteful as we didn't know for sure how much candy the parents would allow their kids to have. It seemed like everyone, big and little, old and young, enjoyed our visit as we slowly made our way around the campground.

Because so many people enjoyed this activity it has become an annual affair and not only the old-time repeat customers look forward to it, but we do too. The girls that work the counter wear red pointed hats with a white tassel on the top and wish the customers a "Merry Christmas". I'm sure it brings out a lot of pleasant smiles and a more happy feeling in almost everyone. This little act of spreading Christmas cheer started in 1968 and it goes on with at least as much fervor today in 1997 as it did then.