And his jolly old persona can’t help but take a hit with a face mask covering that magnificent snow-white beard and muffling those merry “ho-ho-hos.”
That’s why I decided to promote “The Worldwide Christmas Eve Jingle,” a growing global movement that’s asking people to go outside their homes at 6 p.m. (their time zones) on Christmas Eve and ring bells for two minutes as a way of creating a wave of joy that will celebrate our togetherness, and more importantly keep Santa riding high as he makes his important international trek.
I love the idea. And I’m far from alone. The Facebook page that began as a community project in an English neighborhood this fall to uplift those who were isolated hit its goal of 400,000 followers and is now shooting for a cool half-million.
No doubt there’s plenty of others, like Pam Colwell of Aurora, who heard about the worldwide jingle and posted it on her own Facebook page as a way of keeping the magic in a holiday that’s been hit by the reality of a nine-month pandemic.
The Christmas Eve jingle initiative is a cross between the real-life clapping movement for COVID’s frontline workers that went international earlier this year and the Hollywood ending to the movie “Elf,” where Santa’s sleigh dropped so low, the townspeople had to band together in song to get adequate reindeer liftoff.
And like Colwell told me, “if ever there was a year to look for the magic, it’s this one.”
No kidding.
Figuring out how Santa and COVID fit together has been an extra challenge for children, although I’m glad infectious disease guru Dr. Anthony Fauci came out publicly to announce Mr. Claus has natural immunity to the virus.
Unfortunately, we’ve got some doubters, including my 3-year-old identical twin granddaughters, who agree that both, as well as Daddy and Mommy, all need to wear masks when that sleigh touches down on their rooftop so “Santa doesn’t get sick and doesn’t go to the hospital.”
My kindergarten grandson is also worried about Santa catching the virus, perhaps because he’s had COVID hit his house and knows it’s nothing to mess around with. Besides, he told me when I asked for a little more clarification, a quarantined Santa Claus means “I won’t get any toys.”
My 4-year-old granddaughter, on the other hand, is feeling confident because Santa is “far, far away,” and plans to wear a red and green mask – perhaps even a white one – as well as some “magic goggles during his long night delivering gifts.” And, to be extra safe, she insisted, Santa will make sure he takes off his gloves and uses “strawberry hand sanitizer” after every home he enters.
Her first-grade sister, concerned Santa is feeling “a little sad and a little grumpy because he doesn’t like bad things,” tells me he wants “to give all his coal to the virus this year.” Which I assume would let all those naughty little boys and girls off the hook for 2020, as it should, considering what kids have had to endure since March.
Quarantining at the North Pole, she added, has kept Santa healthy. And while he might be “feeling a little scared” heading south during this pandemic, the good news is he’s been obeying all those rules she’s had to follow. Plus, Santa will be bringing each and every cookie that is set out for him back to the North Pole to eat, leaving the milk behind because “he probably has 10 gallons at his home … maybe 100.”
When asked if Santa should take such flying risks while the rest of us avoid international travel, she replied with an exuberant YES because “he’s bringing presents and joy during corona.”
All the more reason to make sure the jolly ole driver in red remain on course, right?
Colwell, who lives on Ingleside Avenue on the West Side of Aurora, said it wasn’t long after posting information about the Worldwide Christmas Eve Jingle 2020 on her Facebook page that she got 4,000-plus shares. The retired elementary school teacher went door to door on her block, passing out flyers and talking to at least a dozen more neighbors about the Christmas Eve initiative that’s taken off like eight tiny reindeer and a fancy sleigh.
The local response she told me “has been awesome,” and includes one woman who lives in Aurora Township but “promises to ring a big steel bell mounted on her house loud enough” for Colwell to hear.
“I’m hopeful that bells will be ringing throughout Aurora,” she said, noting that any kind of noisemaker would do.
Colwell admits she’s gotten “so excited” about this movement, “that I feel like a kid again.”
That’s because, she rightly added, even in a pandemic, “the magic of this season is around us.”
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