If you ask one of Santa's Maritime helpers what he would like for Christmas, you'd be in for quite a surprise.
Stellarton, N.S., Santa Claus Steve Angst says a real-life Grinch stole his expensive, handmade belt – leaving him with his knees buckled.
“I know it was taken,” Angst said. “I don't know who. But I know it was taken.”
Angst has been dressing up as one of Santa’s stand-ins for 38 years. Last year, he had purchased a leather belt with a huge brass buckle from a shop in North Carolina.
He paid nearly $400US for it.
“It was about five feet long. Buckle on it was a few pounds,” said Angst. “Kind of looked like the one in the Santa Claus movie. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible for the children.”
Children visited Angst's workplace on Saturday to see if they were on Santa's naughty or nice list. It wasn't hard to guess what most people thought of Santa's belt burglar.
“That's the worst thing I've ever heard,” said Chelsea Green.
“No presents at all for the guy or the girl that (stole) Santa's belt,” said Ares Roach.
Fortunately, Angst's old Santa belt still fits and can do the job for now. He's offering a small reward for the return of the new belt – no questions asked.
“It had ‘Happy Birthday Baby Jesus’ embroidered on it and some other things that I wanted, so it was custom made for me,” said Angst.
Santa is hoping that whoever took the belt will get the Christmas spirit and return it as soon as possible. If not, he'll be looking for another one under his own tree next Christmas.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
