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DEL.ICIO.US“Santa says dream big: What’s your wish for Gwinnett?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I didn’t sit on his lap.
But I did get the chance to sit next to him when kids weren’t around. The Badie Tour stopped by Discover Mills mall on Wednesday to shore up my wish list for the county. (More on that later.)
Last year, this mall had one of the most authentic-looking Santas I’d ever seen. A real-beard guy. This year’s St. Nick didn’t disappoint. That’s because he’s Richard Warren Hyman, the same Santa the Lawrenceville mall employed last year to coax kids into talking and to quiet babies who don’t understand why mom has thrust them into the arms of a stranger in a red suit.
He’s played Santa for 37 years, all over the world, thanks to a career as an aviation security adviser with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Last December, I wrote about Hyman - how real he looked; how popular he’d been with shoppers; and how he seemed genuinely interested in giving the kids, and their parents, a joyful experience.
This year is no different.
Glynis Riescher and Ryan, her 5-year-old son, happened to stop by Santa’s Shop the same time as the Badie Tour. Ryan was the first kid Santa talked to when the shop reopened at 2 o’clock.
“I just have one thing I want,” Ryan told me before climbing atop Santa’s lap. “A [toy] baseball stadium.”
Of course, he just might get it. After all, you have to believe - in the magic, spirit, the goodwill of the season. It’s truly the most wonderful time of the year despite the craziness of midnight madness sales and such. It’s a message that Hyman, of Snellville, proudly portrays and tries to convey to kids, especially teens.
Once older kids learn where the gifts come from, they start to shun St. Nick. Like it’s a rite of passage. And in Hyman’s opinion, a very misguided one.
See, it’s not whether you believe in Santa, the person in the red suit. Just respect the bigger picture, the meaning of it.
“When I was young, kids believed in Santa, the spirit and magic of it, if you will, till they were 12 or 13 years old,” said Hyman, 61, who has chatted with about 800 kids since the Santa shop opened Saturday.
“They used to run to Santa. Growing up today, by the age of 6 or 7, they shy away when they see one. Why take the excitement, that sense of Christmas, away from a child” Why not leave them with memories and let them enjoy them when they are older?”
For you Grinches, well, Hyman has a suggestion. Make a wish list. Dream big.
To that end, I compiled a county wish list. My wishes are that Santa helps us:
*Combat crime.
*Stick to the land-use plan.
*Be more attentive to our youth.
*Exhibit more goodwill to the needy.
*Build a homeless shelter.
*Live the true meaning of the holiday season every single day.
You’ve seen Rick’s wish list. What about yours? What would you ask Santa to do for Gwinnett? Tell us about it at www.ajc.com/gwinnett.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or rbadie@ajc.com. �
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By BC
November 16, 2007 6:38 AM | Link to this
I want Santa to bring MARTA Trains into Gwinnett.
By Al
November 16, 2007 7:36 AM | Link to this
I second that MARTA wish…if you build it, they will ride!
By LilburnDazed
November 16, 2007 8:38 AM | Link to this
Absolutely! Bring MARTA, bring the homeless, bring the panhandlers! Oh yes PLEASE Santa PLEASE bring the worst of downtown to Gwinnett!!
By Michael H. Smith
November 16, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
Dear Santa,
Please give people in Gwinnett County a Brain…. Have CSX, will travel by train.
Revise and amend the county land abuse plan…. Teach all the meaning of “stewardship”
Build a hope shelter…. one in four veterans are homeless
Give all the politicians a wooden nose that grows when they lie…. Save the woodpeckers
A bottle of aspirin before the mileage rates are raised to aid the pains of fiscal sobriety …. borrowing time on lagging infrastructure accrues compound interest, Gwinnett’s sub-prime balloon-note is long overdue.
A Mexican Flag for the embassy on Marietta St…. The ministers of propaganda, Tijuana Tucker, Baja Bookman and Cozumel King need diplomatic immunity.
And one last thing Santa, under quality of life: Jobs that are made in the USA that stay in the USA that pay a living wage, filled by U.S. American workers.
By Sandy_G
November 16, 2007 12:39 PM | Link to this
To Lilburn Dazed: I don’t know what rock you have been living under, but the homeless and the panhandlers arrived in Gwinnett years ago without the assistance of a MARTA train. Check under any highway or freeway overpass, patch of woods, etc. and you’ll find homeless people in Gwinnett. We’ve also got panhandlers (I’ve been hit up for money three times this year when walking to my car at the grocery store, outlet store and Burger King parking lots). We’ve also got gangs, graffitti, prostitution and crime and all of it somehow managed to get here without MARTA.
I personally wish Santa would bring commuter rail to Gwinnett. You know, a train that goes into town in the mornings and comes back into Gwinnett in the evenings. That way, the homeless people, prostitutes, gang members, criminals and panhandlers that live in Gwinnett could go to Atlanta during the day and then come back home at night, oh and the rest of the tens of thousands of us that would like to be able to get to work in less than two hours each way but can’t afford to live ITP.
By Scott
November 16, 2007 1:24 PM | Link to this
Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas this year is R-A-I-N!
By LB
November 16, 2007 8:55 PM | Link to this
I wish the illegals who live in Norcross and/or other parts of Gwinnett would be more appreciative of what legal citizens do for them.
There is a man (illegal) who used to pass around his business cards to everybody he spoke to. He wanted work. I had a friend who needed work done and was willing to use this man. She called and left him a voice mail and he never called her back. This was a slap in her face and mine both because I was willing to promote this guy to my friend. This was hard for me to do in the first place because I have very strong feelings about people being here illegally but my heart went out to this guy.
My wish is that these people would at least be sincere and honest. If somebody takes them seriously, at least respond and be gracious.
By Pen
November 17, 2007 8:33 AM | Link to this
My wish for Gwinnett is that it would go back to the way it was when my family moved here over 20 years ago. Since that is impossible then my second wish is that the view of it does not last long while we are leaving it!!!
By Leah
November 17, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
1.Clean Streets 2.For shoppers to not litter parking lots and use the cart returns at Kroger and Walmart 3.Fewer strip malls 4.For parents to accompany their children at the malls (Discover and Gwinnett) and the skating rink on Beaver Ruin 5.A crackdown on graffiti and gang activity 6.Synchronized traffic lights 7.I want everyone to have a very Merry Christmas or a Wonderful Holiday! 8. Peace, Love, Joy, and Full Bellies!