Local children meet Santa
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on December 24, 2016 12:31 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Ann Mooring holds her granddaughter Anzlee Skyler Mooring, almost 2, who is nervous about meeting Santa for the first time at Berkeley Mall Wednesday.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Teegan Pretlow, 5, squirms with excitement as she tells Santa what she wants for Christmas Wednesday at Berkeley Mall.
In addition to preparing for his present-delivering trip around the world, Santa Claus also made the time the past few weeks to visit Berkeley Mall.
Local children took advantage of the opportunity to talk to the jolly old elf. On Wednesday, they came through at a steady pace to let Santa know their Christmas wishes.
Ericka Rankins, 5, flashed a snaggle-toothed grin as she said what she wanted for Christmas.
"Teeth," she said. "And also Ana and Elsa baby dolls. And Olaf."
A pretty good list.
Ann Mooring stopped by with her 23-month-old granddaughter Anzlee for her first visit with Santa. While Anzlee was not quite the talkative type, Mrs. Mooring said that her granddaughter loves playing with her father, who races radio controlled cars. Mrs. Mooring bought Anzlee a small one for Christmas.
"She's my baby, she's my grandbaby, and I just wanted to bring her by to see Santa."
Next through the line was Summer Pennington, who brought along her 18-month-old son, Ford. Ms. Pennington said that she brought Ford by at least twice a week, to get him used to being around Santa.
"The real test is coming this Friday when we actually try to sit down with him," she said.
Ford, for his part, waved at Santa from his stroller the entire time.
The last one through the line was 5-year-old Teegan Pretlow, who literally jumped for joy as she described her meeting with Santa. She went through a litany of Barbie-themed Christmas wishes before dashing off in a flash to see the animatronic musical bears in the middle of the mall.
Santa said he has been visiting shopping malls for 35 years, and he said being a mall Santa has been a wonderful part of his life.
"I love children, I love this job," he said, gesturing toward his co-workers. "When you've got people with you, it makes the job so much easier. It's just fun."