'€™Tis the season

WASILLA — The “Naughty” and “Nice” lists are being finalized and Santa’s elves are working overtime to finish up a record year for the world’s most famous gift-giver. Even just a few weeks from Kris Kringle’s big night on Christmas Eve, his better half found time on Saturday to read to Valley children at Wasilla’s Holiday Community Celebration.

Although many mistake her for Valley resident Margaret Heaven, Mrs. Claus said she’s as excited about playing a supporting role for Santa as she was when she began hundreds of years ago. Following her storytime session, Mrs. Claus took time to answer some questions about her life and her famous husband.

Frontiersman: How long have you and Santa been married?

Mrs. Claus: Hundreds of years, although I’ve only been coming to Wasilla, I think this is my fourth year.

F: What’s something about Santa people wouldn’t know?

Mrs. C: You want me to tell Santa’s secrets? You’ll be on the naughty list. Well, he loves peppermint candy, and he loves every kind of cookie. And he loves when the children make the cookies the best.

F: What’s it like at Santa’s Workshop when it’s not the holiday season?

Mrs. C: Well, for the first two months (after Christmas), everyone kind of just takes naps. Actually, everybody first cleans up the workshop, then they think up new toys to make.

F: How do you get along with the elves?

Mrs. C: Oh, they’re wonderful. They’re just so playful. You have to watch them every minute or they’ll play tricks on each other, and on Santa and me. They’re not bad tricks, they’re very good.

F: What’s it like to be married to Santa Claus?

Mrs. C: It’s wonderful, just wonderful. He’s very kind. Sometimes he gets preoccupied with the elves and the toys. And, if he’s not working, he’s falling asleep in his chair.

F: What’s Santa’s favorite meal?

Mrs. C: Santa’s favorite meal is fried chicken with rice and Matanuska Valley-grown peas and carrots. For dessert he loves lemon pie. But if he can’t get lemon pie he loves chocolate cake

F: How did Santa propose to you?

Mrs. C: Now, that’s a secret. Very cleverly, I’ll put it that way.

F: How do you keep the spice in your marriage for so long?

Mrs. C: That’s a good question. It is certainly there. We each do our own things part of the time, then it’s exciting to hear what the other is doing. Sometimes he lets me travel with him, and that’s exciting and fun.

F: How does Santa maintain his naughty and nice lists?

Mrs. C: Well, we used to do it with a large number of bookkeeper elves, but now we’ve gone high-tech and he has a special satellite link and a secret computer program (and he has a different kind of computer than everybody else. It’s magical). Part of his special system has to do with thought transfer, so there’s not a lot of typing. It’s very high-tech.

F: Did you make Santa’s red suit yourself and how did you come up with the pattern?

Mrs. C: I did. I made him lie down on the floor, then I drew around him. He liked some of the outfits he saw in the northern countries, and of course it had to be warm. And the material is a special magical material we got in Lapland, which is over by Finland.

F: What’s the role of Mrs. Claus?

Mrs. C: It’s to keep Santa happy, of course, and to keep the elves out of the way when he needs his quiet time, his thinking time.

F: You spent part of Saturday reading to Valley children. How do you like that interaction?

Mrs. C: Oh, I love it, I love it. The children are so attentive and (I love) to see the sparkle in their eyes at Christmastime. We love to go to the Christmas concerts the children put on.

F: How much longer do you and Santa have in you to continue doing Christmas?

Mrs. C: Forever. It’s always new and exciting.

F: How have children changed over the centuries?

Mrs. C: On the outside, a lot of them seem a little greedier, but when you talk to them one-on-one, they really are giving and caring. They like to make gifts for people and they like to give gifts, so in that way they’re the same.

F: Why don’t you and Santa get involved in politics? You would be elected in a landslide.

Mrs. C: That is a good question, and in a way we are involved in politics. We’re involved in the politics of good will toward men and in promoting loving thoughts. But to be involved in any nation’s politics would not be a good thing.

F: There’s a perception that Santa works one day a year. Is that true?

Mrs. C: Oh, no, no. He works in his own way. Some people might not call it work because it’s so much fun.

F: So, people in the Valley can expect a visit again this year?

Mrs. C: Yes, of course. He has a soft place in his heart for every place in the world that cares for peace and taking care of the Earth.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.