SANTA AND CAROLERS

It's strange how things just fall into places.  A few weeks ago I decided to join a walking caroling group in Jackson Heights on Saturday 22 December.  In a Santa suit, mind you, as Santa Claus, not to sing, since many people, including my wife and my son, already told me I always sing off-key.  My father had the singing talent, and so does my son, so I guess the gene skipped me.  Anyway, one reason I wanted to attend the event was that my Facebook friend James M was attending.  James and I went to the same high school (Newtown High in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, not the one in the news that's related to the mass murder) but it was a big place so we only knew each other, virtually, via Facebook about 25 years after we graduated high school.  So I went mostly to meet James for the first time, in person.  A secondary reason was that I lived in Elmhurst, which shared a border with Jackson Heights, so I also wanted to re-visit the area.

As the day of the event approached, I found out on that I would need to play chauffeur for my wife mere hours before event time.  It was possible that I would be stuck with that duty and miss the event altogether.  I told the organizer that I definitely would not be there by 7 P.M., but I will try not to be too late.  Then my new blog fan TbirdOnRoute66 made some encouraging remarks about traditions so I was even more eager to go.

It turned out my chauffeur duty was done early enough in the evening for me to leave the house in ample time.  Well, except that traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway was bad so I took Woodhaven Boulevard, but as I neared Queens Center Mall traffic on Woodhaven was bad, too.  By 7 P.M. I was still on Woodhaven, inching slowly forward.  The only saving grace was that I was in full Santa costume so as different cars pulled along me, I would silently greet them.  Everyone was happy to see Santa.  In some instances, I even pretended to mistakenly have my fake beard-and-mustache on my neck, look panicky when someone saw me, as if I just realized the missing beard, turn away then put the beard in the right place.  Spreading joy and laughter on Woodhaven Boulevard in stop-and-go traffic!

I eventually arrived at the meeting place and managed to get together with the carolers.  And met James, along with a few other people I vaguely knew from the various Facebook groups.  My Santa suit didn't have room for a camera so even though I brought one it was left in the car.  Luckily, James had a camera and we even had a videographer, Joe D.  Below are some photos from the event courtesy of James and Joe.

Joe, Santa, and Vinny in Waldbaum, Aisle #2.

Santa and James.

See other videos Joe produced at http://www.youtube.com/user/66cats77?feature=watch