By Joel Keller
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

The holidays are a busy time at Cedar Crest, and no one feels it more than the catering team.

“It’s our busiest time of the year,” says Jean Mazurek, the Catering Department manager.

She and her staff cater about two dozen parties every December, usually split evenly between private events that residents hold for friends and family and public events that are open to larger groups.

Two popular celebrations open to the entire community are Breakfast with Santa and the New Year’s Eve party, both of which are held at the conference center at Woodland Commons Clubhouse.

Breakfast with Santa
Since Cedar Crest opened in 2001, Breakfast with Santa has been held annually and grown in popularity. At the breakfast, residents and their families not only enjoy a hot buffet, but grandkids and great-grandkids also get to sit on Santa’s lap to give him their holiday wish lists.

“One youngster said he didn’t want anything for Christmas, but his dad wanted a Corvette,” laughs Joe Greenfield (aka Santa). “I said, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’”

Joe Greenfield and his wife, Ann Weber-Greenfield, live at Cedar Crest and  have played Santa and Mrs. Claus every year since the event’s inception. Joe Greenfield had previous Santa experience—he played the jolly elf at Mitchells department store in Westport, Conn., the Christmas before he moved to Cedar Crest.

But he and his wife goodnaturedly acknowledge why he was asked to fill the role by the community’s diversity committee six years ago. “He had the personality and the tummy and the weight … the whole bearing of Santa Claus,” she says.

Greenfield’s assessment is a little more succinct. “I fit the bill and the suit,” he  jokes.

Last year more than 100 kids sat on Santa’s lap. “Most of the kids didn’t want to get off,” says Weber-Greenfield. “They snuggle in and are very comfortable.”

But Greenfield doesn’t mind. “It [gives me] an elated feeling,” he says.