Oak Bay News reporter Christine van Reeuwyk caught up with Santa in some down time between his Oak Bay Village appearance and his Estevan Village visit this holiday season. The jolly old elf took a few minutes for a cuppa tea and short interview.
Q: What are your plans for visiting Oak Bay this year?
A: Oak Bay is notorious for fabulous but narrow chimneys, so I’ll probably have to grease up my boots. But the children do leave the best cookies in Oak Bay.
Q: What is your favourite snack?
A: I’m partial to any kind of ginger snap or sugar cookies, not so much chocolate chip. Out of politeness I take a bite out of every cookie and a sip of milk. Sometimes there’s eggnog which is a treat. Kids are very creative these days, there are lots of juice boxes which are a nice travel treat, take and go.
Q: Any unusual toy requests this year?
A: Children are really into the electronics this year. The elves have to work hard and we try not to bring in too many non-North Pole-ians this year. The elves are not the best with electronics but they work hard.
Q: What kind of reception do the reindeer get in Oak Bay?
A: There are dogs and cats and racoons that respond with a bit of alarm when the reindeer land on a roof. But the reindeer have a bit of a rapport with most of the pets in Oak Bay. The reindeer are a bit of celebrities in their own right.
Q: What’s your favourite part about Christmas?
A: I have a bit of a sweet tooth so it’s really all about the special baking around the world. In the Middle East the kids leave out their version of baklava … North American kids love to leave sugar cookies but sometimes it’s noodles, a fortune cookie or tabouleh salad.
Q: Do you get a holiday?
A: One week. It starts Boxing Day. I watch a lot of Christmas movies, Elf and Miracle on 34th Street, of course, and spend a good portion of the day watching the Yule log. There are funny postcards of Santa on the beach somewhere but it’s not true.
