thedrifter
12-30-08, 06:40 AM
Secrets of a Santa Helper
JOHN CARSWELL - Daily Union Staff Writer
December 29, 2008 03:28 pm
— Shelbyville resident Tomas Cuellar not only believes in Santa, he is Santa—or at least one of his best helpers.
Oddly enough, he got his first Santa training while he was in the Marines.
"When I was in Seattle, I headed up the Toys for Tots program. Toys for Tots was started by the Marines back during W.W.II to give toys to children whose fathers were away at Christmas.”
As part of the program, Cuellar did a commercial with Chuck Knox, the Seattle Seahawks coach at that time, in conjunction with Coca Cola.
“Every six pack of Coke had a tab on it with our picture. I still have the poster that he autographed for me. My unit did the color guard for the Seahawks opening games and we got to sit on the sidelines and watch the game next to greats like Steve Largent.”
Cuellar told about the time toymaker Hasbro Inc. came in with a semi trailer loaded with little blue Smurfs. “We had thousands of Smurfs! Every child in the program walked away with his or her own Smurf.”
But Cuellar didn’t get his official call to duty until after he retired from the Marines.
“That was when I met my wife Nancy,” said Cuellar. “We were working for the State of Washington in the employment office helping disabled veterans get jobs and training. One of Nancy’s jobs was to get helper Santas for the local department stores. She was short one helper and she asked me to do Santa a favor.
“That is how I got started. I trained at Santa School where they teach you do what Santa expects of a helper. I went through an interview, training video, and tests. I had to memorize all the reindeer names and their likes and dislikes. Santa expects you to be a good representative so the training is not easy,” he said.
Since then, Tomas has been asked on many occasions to fill in for Santa and even found out he needed some help for himself.
Tomas explained, “As it turned out, Mrs. Santa told me that Nancy would make an excellent helper for me. Nancy was excited and readily took to the task, making sure the Santa suit was clean and in proper order and making sure we had plenty of paper for lists and treats for the boys and girls.”
When Tomas and Nancy moved to Shelbyville, Santa asked them to help out again with talking to children and taking their Christmas wishes.
But you won’t know where he is or when he will appear. Santa asks all his helpers to work in secret and to become secret givers.
“I was raised that if you give a gift, it has to be in secret. That is so they can’t thank you for it. In the Bible it says that when you give, you should not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. That means, if you do something good for somebody, you are not supposed to do it in a way that you gain personal recognition. It is the way Saint Nicholas began his tradition and it is they way he wants us to be now.”
Cuellar related the story about how the giving process takes root in a person’s heart, or at least in his.
“I guess I was about six. We were not well off and got one gift at Christmas each year. I got a Lionel train, the kind that blew smoke and everything. But this kid across the street was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn’t get anything for Christmas. So I gave him my train. Two days later my parents asked me where it was and I told them what I had done. Mom said, ‘Well, I guess you were just living out what we had told you.”
Ellie
JOHN CARSWELL - Daily Union Staff Writer
December 29, 2008 03:28 pm
— Shelbyville resident Tomas Cuellar not only believes in Santa, he is Santa—or at least one of his best helpers.
Oddly enough, he got his first Santa training while he was in the Marines.
"When I was in Seattle, I headed up the Toys for Tots program. Toys for Tots was started by the Marines back during W.W.II to give toys to children whose fathers were away at Christmas.”
As part of the program, Cuellar did a commercial with Chuck Knox, the Seattle Seahawks coach at that time, in conjunction with Coca Cola.
“Every six pack of Coke had a tab on it with our picture. I still have the poster that he autographed for me. My unit did the color guard for the Seahawks opening games and we got to sit on the sidelines and watch the game next to greats like Steve Largent.”
Cuellar told about the time toymaker Hasbro Inc. came in with a semi trailer loaded with little blue Smurfs. “We had thousands of Smurfs! Every child in the program walked away with his or her own Smurf.”
But Cuellar didn’t get his official call to duty until after he retired from the Marines.
“That was when I met my wife Nancy,” said Cuellar. “We were working for the State of Washington in the employment office helping disabled veterans get jobs and training. One of Nancy’s jobs was to get helper Santas for the local department stores. She was short one helper and she asked me to do Santa a favor.
“That is how I got started. I trained at Santa School where they teach you do what Santa expects of a helper. I went through an interview, training video, and tests. I had to memorize all the reindeer names and their likes and dislikes. Santa expects you to be a good representative so the training is not easy,” he said.
Since then, Tomas has been asked on many occasions to fill in for Santa and even found out he needed some help for himself.
Tomas explained, “As it turned out, Mrs. Santa told me that Nancy would make an excellent helper for me. Nancy was excited and readily took to the task, making sure the Santa suit was clean and in proper order and making sure we had plenty of paper for lists and treats for the boys and girls.”
When Tomas and Nancy moved to Shelbyville, Santa asked them to help out again with talking to children and taking their Christmas wishes.
But you won’t know where he is or when he will appear. Santa asks all his helpers to work in secret and to become secret givers.
“I was raised that if you give a gift, it has to be in secret. That is so they can’t thank you for it. In the Bible it says that when you give, you should not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. That means, if you do something good for somebody, you are not supposed to do it in a way that you gain personal recognition. It is the way Saint Nicholas began his tradition and it is they way he wants us to be now.”
Cuellar related the story about how the giving process takes root in a person’s heart, or at least in his.
“I guess I was about six. We were not well off and got one gift at Christmas each year. I got a Lionel train, the kind that blew smoke and everything. But this kid across the street was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn’t get anything for Christmas. So I gave him my train. Two days later my parents asked me where it was and I told them what I had done. Mom said, ‘Well, I guess you were just living out what we had told you.”
Ellie