The Tradition of Santa Claus Returns After COVID

The Tradition of Santa Claus Returns After COVID

Santa Claus is a character who brings gifts to children during the holiday of Christmas.

During the holiday season, many performers play Santa. They appear across the United States in stores, hotels, and other places to meet with children and ask them what Christmas gifts they want. This year, Santa performers are back after two years of COVID-19 restrictions¹. But there are a few changes.

Mitch Allen started a service that provides Santa performers called HireSanta.com. He has reported a 30 percent increase in demand this Christmas season over the last year. The company lost about 15 percent of its performers to retirement² or death during the pandemic.

Allen has a Santa database³ of several thousand performers. It includes events at Bloomindale's main store in New York and many events at Marriott hotels. Most of the Santa performers with Allen have moved back to the tradition of having kids sit on their laps. They are not considering COVID-19 infection in any major way, he said. But Santas can choose to wear a face covering.

Chris Landtroop is a spokesperson with another agency that provides Santa performers, Cherry Hill Programs. She said the business's 1,400 Santas are working at more than 600 shopping centers this year.

"I can't even explain how excited we are to see everyone's smiles at all locations this season without anything covering up those beautiful faces," she said.

Cherry Hill Santas are also free to wear face coverings, Landtroop said.

Some Santas are still keeping their distance. The Santa at Macy's main store in New York City will be seated behind a work station. So, there will be no lap visits there.

Some Santas who stayed home for the last two years out of concern for their health have returned. But Allen said he is looking for new performers.

Inflation⁴ has also made it difficult for people to continue performing. Many are older, on fixed⁵ incomes, and travel long distances to perform. They spend hundreds of dollars on Santa clothing and other objects.

"We're charging the clients slightly more and we're also paying our Santas slightly more," Allen said.

Bookings for many Santas were made months ahead, and some work throughout the year. Allen's Santas will make from $5,000 to $12,000 for the season.

A few Santas told The Associated Press that the cost is not a problem. They are not in the Santa profession to make money but do it because they enjoy it.

Allen and other agencies are seeing more requests for Black, deaf, and Spanish-speaking Santa performers. Allen also knows a female Santa.

Eric Elliott and his wife Moeisha Elliott became professional Santas this year after first taking on the part as volunteers in 2007. Both are retired⁶ military members.

They spent weeks in Santa Claus training. They learned American Sign Language and other ways to work with and perform to people with disabilities. Their work has included going to disaster areas with the Texas-based nonprofit Lone⁷ Star Santas to spread happiness during the holidays.

The Elliotts said breaking into the professional world as Santas for the first time and being Black has not been easy. For some people, Eric said, "We understand that we're not the Santa for you."

Words in This Story

character – n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

lap – n. the area between the knees and the hips⁸ of a person who is sitting down

excited – adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something

smile – n. an expression on your face that makes the corners of your mouth turn up and that shows happiness, amusement, pleasure, or affection

client – n. a person who pays a professional person or organization for services

booking – n. the process of agreeing to and preparing for a performer to appear at a certain place to perform

disability – n. a condition (such as an illness or an injury) that damages or limits a person's physical or mental abilities

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 database   

n.数据库 （=databank）

参考例句：

• I discovered some new information in the database.我在资料库里发现了一些新信息。
• We planned to build an online database.我们计划建一个联机数据库。

4 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

8 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》