Carving Undercover Santas. Russell Sanders Scott
and drawing a lot of attention to his obviously frustrated, overwrought and embarrassed mother. My father gave the child a look, raised his eyebrows and stated, “Remember, I’m always watching.” The child’s eyes grew round. My father didn’t say another word but gave a stern look. The child immediately quieted down. The grateful mother looked at dad and whispered, “Thank you.”
Dad continued his fun at playing Santa as a member of the Moose Lodge in St. Paul, Minnesota. He dressed as Santa each year, in a beautiful costume, to greet children and grandchildren of lodge members during a special event with Santa. He even had a special Santa chair that he reupholstered in red velvet for the annual event.
When Santa Came to the Meeting
My oldest brother, Rodney, posed as Santa for me as a child. When I was a very young cub scout we gathered in the elementary school gym for the annual meeting. We were told Santa was coming and would bring little white bags with candy for the kids.
“How does Santa know if children have been good? By going undercover, of course!”
The meeting grew long, I grew bored, and my attention drifted until I remembered that Santa was coming with treats. I quickly straightened up, not wanting to miss out on the special treat of seeing Santa. At the end of the meeting the leader said we had to sing a song in order to get Santa to come in and we had to sing loudly. The first song was “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.” When we finished, the leader looked to the door but Santa was not there. The leader told us we had not sung loud enough. So next we sang “Jingle Bells” really loudly. But still no Santa. I grew worried. Was the big guy really coming or had something gone wrong? The next song we sang at the top of our lungs was “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” This was obviously the key, and sure enough, Santa appeared. He walked to the front of the group and we all lined up to wait our turn to greet him. When I got to the front of the line I noticed Santa’s voice was not a deep adult voice but sounded more like a teenager’s. When it was my turn to speak to Santa he called me by my nickname, Rusty. I was elated. How did he know my name? It had to be the real Santa. I was so happy until my next oldest brother, Rick, came over and told me that Santa was really Rodney. At first I didn’t believe Rick. But on closer examination of Santa I came to realize it was true. I felt betrayed. But I quickly recovered when I was awarded the white bag of candy. This was my first taste of Santa going undercover. After all, the big guy couldn’t possibly be everywhere, all the time, could he? Nowadays Rodney no longer needs to wear a fake beard or padding to complete his disguise as Santa to his grandchildren.
Not Just Males
Undercover Santa is not restricted to males. My mother-in-law was another undercover Santa. Genevieve was a farmer, a quilter, and a devoted mother and grandmother. Every year, well into her 90s, she would make a long list of all of her children, their spouses, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren, to make sure she had a gift for each one, numbering over a hundred people. She loved Christmas and didn’t want to miss a single person. Each year in the fall she would gather apples from her trees and make dozens of apple pies to freeze and give as gifts to her family members. She also made strawberry and raspberry jams. She was definitely an undercover Santa.
As a Santa carver I often find myself looking at the people I meet in stores, restaurants, and events to see if I can spot an undercover Santa. After all, they are all around us and are always watching.
WOODCARVING SAFETY
I always make a point to instruct the students in my carving class to look closely at the carving knife. They need to know which side of the blade is sharp since a carving knife is not the same as a sharp kitchen knife. In one of the first carving classes I took there was a young man who did not pay attention to which side was sharp and immediately cut his thumb.
I also tell my students to practice using their wrist in a rotation to make cuts into the wood and not take huge sweeping motions to cut. The smaller wrist motion gives them more control of the knife and is safer.
SAFETY TIPS FOR HAND CARVING
PROJECTS
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