IF YOU believe everything you see, you could be forgiven for thinking Santa Claus had taken a break from chilling at the North Pole to do a spot of maintenance of Canberra's public areas yesterday.
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Old Saint Nick, or at least a bloke who looked a lot like him, was out on a ride-on lawn mower in Weston Creek most of the day. The man in question turned out to be Territory and Municipal Services contractor Andrew Banks, of Queanbeyan, a grounds keeper tasked with beautifying the grassy areas.
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''I wear the good ol' Santa suit to bring happiness to people,'' he said. ''Everyone gets a laugh out of it.''
He happens to own his very own Santa suit and mowed while wearing it last year as well.
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''Everyone seems to love it. They usually wave, honk and a couple of people stop and ask to take photos.''
In addition to the classic red and white suit plus beard, Banks wore fluorescent safety gear. He got a complaint for mowing in his suit without it and his boss had to bring it out to him.
Banks will be mowing in his Santa gear all week and will be out on most of the main roads of Woden and Weston Creek.
He happens to be the only mowing Santa where he works and hopes his sense of humour and Christmas spirit will land him on the bona fide Mr Claus' nice list. For him, the season is all about spending time with his family (as well as dressing the part).
Slimming for chimneys
SPEAKING of Santa, the people of the Southern NSW Local Health District reckon the man whose belly wobbles like a bowl full of jelly is in need of a little health advice this Christmas.
Health development manager, Lorraine Dubois, said, ''If Santa wants to fit down all those chimneys, he will need to take action. Losing weight would boost his energy and make sure he can get to all 70,000 households in the Local Health District as part of his tour on Christmas Eve.''
Her recommendation was the free ongoing coaching service called Get Healthy. This service guides people through lifestyle changes. Qualified health coaches help out anyone keen on better eating and becoming more active. To enrol phone 1300806258 or see www.gethealthynsw.com.au
Reaching their target
SOME cricket tragics will go a very long way for their obsession. Mega fans of the Indian team Yayati Sudame, of the Gold Coast, and his mates Gaurav Kaulgud and Amrish Bafana, both of Brisbane, travelled to Canberra just to try to meet their sporting idols.
This they managed to do, albeit with considerable effort.
First, they went from hotel to hotel until they found the right one where the team was staying. It was a Barton hotel, and Sudame declined to share its name.
Having found the right venue, the friends booked into one of the last available rooms, then staked out the front of the lifts and waited for the team to come down to breakfast. They waited from 6.30am and the team finally showed about 9.30am on Sunday. The trio's efforts were fruitful - each of them got autographs of all 17 members of the team on a cricket bat apiece.
Sudame said, ''It was pretty much a dream come true for all of us. It was the one thing we really wanted to do in our life, to meet him [Sachin Tendulkar] once at least.''
The legendary cricketer nicknamed ''Little Master'' impressed them with his humility.
''He is such a gentleman. For whatever he has done for the game, he is so down to earth, which is one of the reasons he commands the respect he gets,'' Sudame said.
Qualifying success
RIVERSMART Australia chief executive Bill Phillips said the triathletes taking to Lake Burley Griffin on Sunday to test themselves over the Olympic distance course was a wonderful sight.
For some, Olympic selection was the holy grail but for most it was simply about taking part. Contestants were amused by a family of swans, seemingly unconcerned about the crowd, with one contestant overheard saying, ''I wonder which age class they're in.''
Phillips said it was a ''great event, well run and how nice to be able to showcase the wonderful lake and surround we have to enjoy in this city.''
Caring, sharing fun
CARING kids of Canberra Grammar School and Canberra Girls' Grammar School gave up the first week of their holidays to act as full-time carers, or companions, to children with disabilities.
Last week, 20 students of Years 11 and 12 helped out children with special needs - some had Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy. A group of 15 children with disabilities arrived at Canberra Grammar School for the special camp.
The children enjoyed three days of activities including African drumming, a trip to the zoo, a mini fete, a visit from the fire brigade and Christmas carols.
The senior students taking part were among more than 850 nationwide doing so in 21 Sony Foundation Children's Holiday Camps. The Canberra Grammar School camp was the first hosted in the ACT.