SANTA LOSES FACE: ARRIVES DRAMATICALLY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 37, 24 December 1948, Page 4

SANTA LOSES FACE: ARRIVES DRAMATICALLY

Whakatane is now in' a state of carnival.

The official declaration that the whoopee had started was made by the Carnival Committee's chairman, Mr H. G. Warren, at 1.30 p.m. Wednesday, just as Santa Claus arrived on the Are engine. Caused quite a lot of speculation this arrival of Santa. How would he come? Where from? Well, we know novo He told a crowd of children blocked the traffic in the Strand outside the Regent Theatre that he had been a lot of places, and had plenty more to go to. Romantic places, like Iceiand, Labrador, Siberia. The kids lapped it up, particularly when he distributed sweets to the very little ones. However, what worries we older people is a certain haunting resemblance to'a Borough Councillor, and a faint whiff of paint. We feel we know that man. Maybe that’s why some of the more uncharitable amongst us were speculating about why the fire engine was so long around the corner when it went up the street in the direction of both our' local oases (good word, that) to turn round. Well, friends, you can ditch those unworthy suspicions. It was paint we smelt, and Neville Bremner and George Lodge both assure us none of their stuff smells like that. We dunno. Not yet. Tell you next year. However, the fact of the matter was that Santa lost face. Not in the Oriental sense. Literally. His face blew off. Whiskers'and all. Hence the delay, while the Fire Brigade Superintendent and driver helped him to pretty himself up again. Anyway, that’s their story., And the delay did no harm. It just heightened the interest.