First a little background. For the third year in a row, I hired a Santa Claus for Christmas. I take the customers’ kids pictures sitting on his lap and print them out for the parents free of charge. The kids also get cookies, punch, a coloring book, crayons, a candy cane and so on. We’ve always had him at the Dressler Road office, the largest of the three offices. This year, one of our board members asked that I have him at the Cleveland Ave. office too. It would be a tight fit, I told him, but we could work it out. After all, it’s not just Santa sitting in a chair. You also must have room for the camera, a table for the computer and printer, etc., plus have room for everyday lobby traffic.

Well, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished. Sparks flew when the staff at the Alliance office heard that Santa would be visiting the other two offices but not theirs. I tried to point out that the Alliance office lobby is simply too small to host an event, but my arguments were rejected. So I was forced to accept the truth…that I would be spending the holiday season as the villain…

How Tod Stole Santa Claus

Every person in Alliance liked Santa a lot,
But Tod, who’s from Alliance, did NOT!
He sat in his office with a sour, Tod frown,
Plotting revenge on ol’ Carnation Town.

“I need a good plan,” he snarled with a sneer,
“Five weeks until Christmas! It’s practically here!”
He plotted a way in his dark, twisted mind,
For Santa to somehow leave Alliance behind.

St. Nick would travel as he does every season,
But would somehow forget from Beech Street to Beeson.
“I’ve got it,” Tod snarled in his dark office space,
“Christmas, for Alliance, will never take place!”

Tod hacked the computer and removed their addresses,
He deleted Alliance from all GPS’s
He shut off the power so St. Nick couldn’t see,
One candle, one bulb or one Christmas tree.

So with whips a-crackin’ and reindeer a-pantin’
Santa flew over Alliance and went straight to Canton.
Children cried in the streets, people stormed the town hall
Christmas, for Alliance, didn’t happen at all!

The people exclaimed, “You’ve shattered our dream,
“Remember, dear Tod, that we’re on the same team.”
“Was it something we did?” they asked with despair,
“You took away Santa! That just wasn’t fair!”

“It’s not about toys or fresh pine scents,
It’s not about cookies or gumdrops or presents.
We’re just asking one day in cold late December,
That Santa could visit good credit union members.”

And what happened then? Well…in Alliance they say,
That Tod’s prunish heart grew three sizes that day!
“I’m sorry my friends,” Tod said with a cheer.
“I’ll do what I can to bring Santa next year.”