Royal City Record November 21 2014

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014

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Some serious Santas BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com

Being Santa Claus isn’t as simple as slipping on a red suit and saying Ho Ho Ho. Santa Claus got a refresher on how to be the best St. Nick possible at a recent Santa School at Royal City Centre. The school featured guest speakers on topics like makeup (how to get the rosy cheeks) and sign language (a few basic phrases to communicate with kids). “They are talking about everything,” said Rozmin Watson, who operates HireASanta.ca. “We talk about ethics, and background checks, what not to do, what not to say.” Because Santa’s been busy overseeing operations at the North Pole since last Christmas, the Santa School also offered a few refreshers for Santas. “We teach them how to hold a baby and how to have their picture taken,” Watson said. “We train our elves how to get ready for the season.” HireASanta.ca helps put the Jolly Old Elf to work in a vari-

For more photos, scan with Layar

Jennifer Gauthier/THE RECORD

Signs of the season: Santas brush up on their sign language during a Santa School session held at Royal City Centre. The school was hosted by HireASanta.ca, which provides a variety of Jolly Old Elf types for the holiday season. The Santas return to school each fall to fine-tune their skills for the holidays. ety of setting by providing mall Santas, skating Santas, roaming Santas, kids’ Santas, corporate Santas and more. “We have a Saxophone Santa. He plays the saxophone,”

Watson said. “People love to have him at the adult events.” The Santas dealing with HireASanta.ca all return to school each fall to fine-tune their skills for the festive sea-

son. “Everything is fresh in their mind,” Watson said. “They all get the same rules and regulations.” A number of organizations

provide Santa services, Watson said, but her company looks for certain traits in Santa. The company specializes in “real ◗Santa school Page 8

Wright, McIntosh will collect severance pay BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com

It’s going to cost taxpayers about $70,000 to say goodbye to two of New Westminster’s veteran politicians. Under a policy approved several years ago, Mayor Wayne Wright and Coun.

Betty McIntosh qualify for a separation allowance. “The policy is that they get 10 per cent of their annual indemnity for each year of service. That was made effective Dec. 1, 2008, and there is a 12-year cap on that,” said Joan Burgess, the city’s director of human resources. “For Betty McIntosh,

it means about $20,000, and for Mayor Wright, former mayor Wright, it would mean about $50,000.” Former councillor Bob Osterman was the first to receive the separation allowance after being defeated in the 2011 election. “It’s like a tiny pension,” McIntosh

said. “I will have to put it right into an RRSP or it will be taxed.” Burgess said Wright and McIntosh would probably get paid their separation allowance sometime in December. “When you think of politicians they basically give up their business or job for

◗Severance Page 8

Thank you New Westminster for your support. Congratulations to all the candidates.

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