ARLINGTON (KDAF) — It’s pretty uncommon for Jolly old St. Nick to be put on the naughty list. But for Jerry Henderson, someone who looks remarkably like the real thing, it was all too real when he took a trip to Six Flags’ Holiday in The Park.
“I had five security guards around me and one of them comes up to me and asked me if I work for the park,” Henderson explained. “I told them ‘no’ and [the security] said ‘well we’ve got a problem’.”
Turns out, Henderson’s “problem” was far beyond his red vest.
“[Security] said ‘you look too much like Santa Claus, go home shave your beard off come back and we’ll be happy to have you back’.”
But for Henderson, nicking his beard was out of the question.
“Not for you, Six Flags, or anyone else am I shaving my beard off,” he told security.
In a statement, Six Flags claims Mr. Henderson was handing out candy in a Santa costume, which is in violation of their “no costume policy.” They also said, “they cannot allow individuals who are not approved by the park to interact with small children in this capacity.”
Henderson denies he ever “dressed” like Santa, he just dressed like he always does during December.
“This is not my costume,” he explained. “This is casual wear, this is how I dress during the holidays.”
As for the candy, Henderson says it’s something he always carries around and he’ll hand it out if a kid ever approaches him.
“I’ve been doing this for so long that I told my kids ‘whenever I die I want to be buried in my suit’!”
I got kicked out of Six Flags for attacking the Ramones. (punk rockers from Queens, with the emphasis on “punk”…. they had it coming).
I took the microphone from the singer and started cursing at the audience, and then a bunch of security guards grabbed me.
That’s almost understandable, but kicking out Santa for handing out candy is beyond the pale.
Just for the record, I’m not a lunatic that regularly attacks rock-n-roll bands on stage; there’s a little history behind this.
The year was 1979, or 1980, and this happened at Six Flags “Great Adventure” in NJ, when “punk rock” was relatively new.
The Ramones, and other punk rock bands were regular attractions at CBGB’s, which was down the block (Bowery & Bleeker) from where I used to hang out, in a raunchy rock-n-roll establishment called “studio 10”, located at 10 Bleeker street, and we had on-going feuds with the punks. (we were 18 year-old drunken kids)
Last time I walked by there, 10 Bleeker street looked like it was converted into condominiums or something, but back in the day it was a hopping, underground nightclub.