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The Slice: Remembering Railroader Santa Elmer
Some Christmas spirits are gone but not forgotten.
“Your column this morning mentioned Santa and it triggered a memory,” wrote my friend Scott Miller. “For years we took the kids to see the same Santa. He was always known as Santa Elmer. He made a point of telling us every time that he rarely recognizes the kids, but he always recognized the parents.
“Over the years we got to know Elmer a little bit. He was a retired railroad engineer, and did the Santa gig just for his own enjoyment. When a kid asked for a toy or electronic gadget his standard response was to tell them that he would be sure to select a gift for them that they would be sure to enjoy. But there was an exception …whenever the child asked for an electric train his face would light up and he would compliment him/her on the excellent choice, then look directly at the parents and say what an excellent choice that would be and how much fun it would be to have an electric train. He caught me one year with that one, and he always chuckled when he saw me.
“It wasn’t until his obit in 2012 that I learned his name was Elmer Smoak. If you Google Santa Elmer you find some articles about him. Obviously he was pretty darned popular. He is missed by many, and there aren’t a lot of us who can say that.”
No lords a-leaping in their version: Suzanne Alvarez shared the seasonally adjusted rewrite her daughters gave “The 12 Days of Christmas” for a school holiday performance.
On the first day of Christmas, the windstorm gave to me …
A pine tree on my roof top, two candles burning, three angry neighbors, four cold suppers, five days without power, six missing shingles, 70 miles per hour, eight broken street lights, nine dirty windows, 10 downed power lines, 11 insurance agents, 12 Avista workers.
I like that. But I sort of miss the partridge.
Speaking of the November windstorm: Jeff Bergman’s recollection involves channeling his inner Johnny Carson.
“Q: How cold WAS it in our house during last month’s power outage?
“A: It was soooo cold that when I went to write out a check, the ink in my pen was frozen.”
Today’s Slice question: What usually happens when you mutter “Aw, the heck with it” and decide to use “The Force”?
Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Co-workers can really warm up to the topic of the all-time best/worst Christmas bonuses.