A surprise visit from Santa Claus last week was so successful that it brought bonus points, even to residents who maybe hadn’t been as nice as they’d planned to be all year.
“People were awesome,” Santa said in an interview Friday morning after spending a few hours driving around town on his Harley-Davidson on Thursday. “It was very pleasing to see that much Christmas spirit.”
During the interview, he wondered aloud whether people noticed that the jolly old elf was a little on the lean side since last year’s visit, and he offered an explanation.
“It’s all thanks to The Biggest Loser,” Santa said, adding that Mrs. Claus had brought the show to his attention. “We do get television up there.”
Santa hadn’t planned to take a pre-Christmas trip, but he and his elves had gotten the toy shop work wrapped up early and he decided to take a short vacation to a special place.
He left Rudolph, the lead reindeer team, and all of the extra reindeer home eating hay and oats to build up a little fat for the trip coming up tonight, and asked Mrs. Santa to watch over them while he was gone.
“I did it on a lark,” Santa said. “I was sitting here in my workshop at the North Pole and it was cold, and I thought, ‘I’m going to go hop on my Harley and drive around and generate a little more Christmas spirit.’
He checked out weather reports and found it would be about 50 or 52 degrees here that afternoon.
“I thought, ‘You know, it’s a nice day in Emporia.’ What is it they say? It’s a great day in Emporia!” he said.
That, then, is why he came.
Santa stopped and talked to plenty of little children, including several standing inside the fence at the Community Day Care Center on West 12th Avenue, and he talked to bigger ones as well.
“All of the children were well-behaved,” he said. “I was just impressed with people in Emporia.”
Semi-tractor trailer drivers blew their basso air horns; city crews, UPS drivers, cowboys and mothers with minivans stuffed full of children all took time to honk and wave as he rode by.
“Everyone just smiled, waved and whooped and hollered a little bit,” Santa said.
Neither size nor skin color nor social standing seemed to matter Thursday afternoon. Everyone joined in making Santa feel welcome in Emporia, he said.
And when Santa’s happy, there’s a good chance that everyone’s going to be happy.
“I think Emporians can count on a generous visit from Santa, because Santa can tell they’ve been good to each other,” he said. “What you give comes back around.”
“People were awesome,” Santa said in an interview Friday morning after spending a few hours driving around town on his Harley-Davidson on Thursday. “It was very pleasing to see that much Christmas spirit.”
During the interview, he wondered aloud whether people noticed that the jolly old elf was a little on the lean side since last year’s visit, and he offered an explanation.
“It’s all thanks to The Biggest Loser,” Santa said, adding that Mrs. Claus had brought the show to his attention. “We do get television up there.”
Santa hadn’t planned to take a pre-Christmas trip, but he and his elves had gotten the toy shop work wrapped up early and he decided to take a short vacation to a special place.
He left Rudolph, the lead reindeer team, and all of the extra reindeer home eating hay and oats to build up a little fat for the trip coming up tonight, and asked Mrs. Santa to watch over them while he was gone.
“I did it on a lark,” Santa said. “I was sitting here in my workshop at the North Pole and it was cold, and I thought, ‘I’m going to go hop on my Harley and drive around and generate a little more Christmas spirit.’
He checked out weather reports and found it would be about 50 or 52 degrees here that afternoon.
“I thought, ‘You know, it’s a nice day in Emporia.’ What is it they say? It’s a great day in Emporia!” he said.
That, then, is why he came.
Santa stopped and talked to plenty of little children, including several standing inside the fence at the Community Day Care Center on West 12th Avenue, and he talked to bigger ones as well.
“All of the children were well-behaved,” he said. “I was just impressed with people in Emporia.”
Semi-tractor trailer drivers blew their basso air horns; city crews, UPS drivers, cowboys and mothers with minivans stuffed full of children all took time to honk and wave as he rode by.
“Everyone just smiled, waved and whooped and hollered a little bit,” Santa said.
Neither size nor skin color nor social standing seemed to matter Thursday afternoon. Everyone joined in making Santa feel welcome in Emporia, he said.
And when Santa’s happy, there’s a good chance that everyone’s going to be happy.
“I think Emporians can count on a generous visit from Santa, because Santa can tell they’ve been good to each other,” he said. “What you give comes back around.”