Bad times for Santa Claus: with the cancellation of the Christmas markets and the entertainment around the holidays, the good old bearded man finds himself unemployed.
This period of health crisis is really difficult for everyone. Imagine: while he usually spends a month of December running around, Santa Claus finds himself in a period of forced inactivity.
He could not ask for better, however, to go from one party to another, from a Christmas market to a flea market. But unfortunately, in this sad time, all activities have been canceled.
The interview with Santa Claus (the real one!) In our video at the top of this article.
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– © Jacques Duchateau
Santa Claus stays at home in a t-shirt and sneakers. He hardly ever takes out his beautiful suit.
Plush toys in flea markets
In his little house in the depths of the Ardennes, not far from the French border, Father Christmas welcomes us near the Christmas tree. Behind his shining beard, his smile hardly hides his bitterness. This year again, as in 2020, it will not be able to make the happiness of the children in the Christmas markets of the surroundings. Sad period.
It has been 20 years since Freddy Tate, a 70-year-old American naturalized since the late 1960s, donned his red suit. At first, on a joke, almost a challenge.
“I already had a nice beard, but not as big. The village baker asked me to come and host a party. But I didn’t have a costume.”. No problem, a Santa Claus hanging from a roof lent him his. Little by little, Freddy-le-Père-Noël has become a key figure in the Semois valley.
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Freddy Tate, Santa Claus from Cornimont.
© Jacques Duchateau
“I do this on a voluntary basis, for a good month and a half, every year. The smiles of the children are wonderful. I get paid with the smiles.”
He even goes out of his pocket to buy stuffed animals at flea markets and distribute them to good children. Sometimes facetious children who do not hesitate to pull on the beautiful beard of the man. They must therefore face the facts: he is the real Santa Claus, since he has a real beard.
But in this month of December, no gift, no cuddly toy, no smile. “Normally, I had a lot of places planned, but there, nothing. We can not”.
For Freddy, this year is really sad. Her dearest wish? Return to a normal life and restore happiness to children. We wish him.
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Freddy Tate, Santa Claus from Cornimont.
© Jacques Duchateau
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