With COVID-19 putting a damper on in-person meetings over the holidays, the Reif Arts Council is doing what it can to make sure some of the most important visits take place. The ones with Santa!
Jolly Ol’ St. Nick will travel from the North Pole to the Myles Reif Performing Arts Center on Saturday, December 12, where he will visit virtually over the internet with area kids to double check their lists and assure they get a bit of face-time with the big guy before he’s too busy this Christmas.
“Kids will be able to email or mail their letters via the postal service to the Reif in advance of the meetings so Santa has time to look through them all. I think it’s a good way to avoid the unnecessary chit-chat prior to the meeting, sort of like an agenda,” said Paul M. Gregersen Reif Arts Council marketing Director. “They can get right to business, Santa is a busy guy this time of year.”
The meetings will take place over Zoom software and the Reif will stream a video of the meetings at reifcenter.org for friends and relatives to watch world-wide.
“Santa has that big of an impact,” Gregersen said. “He’s pretty popular.”
Advanced virtual tickets to the online visits with Santa are required and available at reifcenter.org or by calling the Reif Box Office between noon and 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at (218) 327-5780. The Reif is currently closed to foot traffic under State of Minnesota COVID-19 guidelines.
The event is free to the public and made possible by Range Water Conditioning in Grand Rapids.
