Last Santa of 2009

And here we are, the last Santa gig of the season. Can you believe that this marks my tenth year? Holy smokes, this has been a sweet ride.

I arrived this weekend to warm weather compared to MI. My good friends, the Dimmitt brothers, picked me up at the hotel to grab dinner. The rink manager allowed her husband, Wade, to come and hang out. Now Wade told me that he didn't like Barry Manilow (being a tough biker guy and all), but after a bit of research I found this picture to prove otherwise.

Go figure?

The next morning was a practice with the guest skaters Jonathan Cassar and Alissa Czisny. Both were skating really well as you can see here:

Following Alissa became very dangerous! Please note, I am SMOOSHED up against the tree, so there is no way I could be in her way. She almost takes Santa out! hahaha:

From there I went to Kirby's son in law's rink where Santa got to skate with the hockey skaters. Even though there was a promise of $100 to whomever could beat Santa to the other end in a race, nobody was capable of touching Hanukkah Harry's blinding speed!

The ice show was great. Here you can see the HUGE security guys that have been here longer than me. They have never guarded me once in all my 10 years. Thanks guys!

As you may recall, I have been hoping for some new music for the last ten years. Two years ago I added "deep in the heart of Texas." I thought it went OK, but it was nixed. So in the middle of this last show, BAM, there it is! So I'm thinking, hey how cool, they are surprising me with something different for my last show. I loved it! But when I got off the ice to thank them, I found out it was a mistake! In either case, I loved it and had a blast.

From there we went out to dinner where David made a really nice toast about me and the last ten years. Good times and great memories were had by all. Until next year, HO HO HO!!!