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Elf crossing aheadBy Associated Press © St. Petersburg Times published July 25, 2003
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - There are a few other rules - besides sporting a white beard and donning a red suit - for becoming an "official" Santa Claus: Don't drink alcohol before addressing children and don't smoke in the suit. Italian Armando Narciso stood before 120 delegates at the World Santa Claus Congress this week and promised to follow the rules. The assembly approved his red outfit and he became one of about 40 "official" Santas - or Babbo Natale, in Italian - worldwide. Santa Clauses, clad in different shades of red and sporting white beards, gathered in the middle of summer this week at the Bakken amusement park 13 miles north of Copenhagen, for their 40th annual convention. Santa-in-waiting Garcia Quintero, currently undergoing a two-year test period for getting a badge on his red robe, said Wednesday, "You cannot be a good Santa if you smell alcohol. You must not set a bad example for the children." The rules were created by the Danish Santa guild to keep "bad Santas from tarnishing the image," said guild founder Ole Lundsgaard, a Danish Santa, or Julemand. A Canadian Santa - 73-year-old Carman Lamb of Sarnia, Ontario - agreed with the rules. "Kids love us and we must be nice to them," said Lamb, a retired lawyer who visits children in hospitals and schools in December. "I get a real rush from seeing all those small smiling faces." Santa Claus, St. Nick, Sinter Klaas, Papa Noel, Babbo Natale, Julenissen and other incarnations from Europe, the Americas and Asia met for the three-day convention, which ended Wednesday. The festivities included a firetruck parade through the Danish capital and discussions of "key issues" like when Christmas should be held this year. Unanimously, delegates - including Tokyo residents Paradise Yamamoto and Yutaka Iwabuchi dressed as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jose Antonio Garcia Quintero from Caracas, Venezuela - voted to hold Christmas Eve on Dec. 24. "We also call for international rules to create flight corridors so we can deliver the presents without being hassled by witches on broom sticks and boys like Harry Potter," Lundsgaard told the jolly crowd. After Wednesday's meeting, which included a traditional Danish Christmas dinner of roast pork, potatoes and rice pudding, the costumed Santas paraded through the amusement park, sweating profusely in 75-degree temperatures. "That's a lot of Santas," Emil Jeppesen, a 7-year-old Dane, said as he looked with some amazement.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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