nds76
12-22-2005, 7:31pm
Salvation Army officers are shaking their heads after an Ottawa mall ordered a fundraising Santa to leave the premises because he was playing the accordion.
Security officers at the World Exchange Plaza said they were responding to complaints about the noise, but Salvation Army officials, who were there at the time, said they didn't see anyone who appeared unhappy with the music. "I was watching people smiling and laughing and enjoying every minute of it," said Colleen Everett.
Salvation Army Santas don't always play musical instruments during their fundraising drives, but this one pulled out the accordion and started squeezing out old Christmas tunes after noticing too many people walking past without donating a few coins.
His move drew an obliging crowd, followed by a security guard.
Not wanting to enflame the situation, the Santa took his entourage outside to the sidewalk and continued to play, but that wasn't enough for security at the World Exchange Plaza. The confrontation continued.
"I'm telling you, all right, if you want to be like this, I'll call the cops and they can make a big thing about it," the security guard told the Santa.
The guard then said to a CBC crew, "OK, do you want to stop filming?"
A World Exchange Plaza representative has refused to comment on the matter.
The charity's Christmas Kettle campaign is well short of this year's goal of $375,000.
The Salvation Army's Max Bulmer attributed the shortfall to donor fatigue. "I think the main reason is that since last December, we have had three major world disasters. We had the tsunami, hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake," said Bulmer.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/22/salvation051222.html
Security officers at the World Exchange Plaza said they were responding to complaints about the noise, but Salvation Army officials, who were there at the time, said they didn't see anyone who appeared unhappy with the music. "I was watching people smiling and laughing and enjoying every minute of it," said Colleen Everett.
Salvation Army Santas don't always play musical instruments during their fundraising drives, but this one pulled out the accordion and started squeezing out old Christmas tunes after noticing too many people walking past without donating a few coins.
His move drew an obliging crowd, followed by a security guard.
Not wanting to enflame the situation, the Santa took his entourage outside to the sidewalk and continued to play, but that wasn't enough for security at the World Exchange Plaza. The confrontation continued.
"I'm telling you, all right, if you want to be like this, I'll call the cops and they can make a big thing about it," the security guard told the Santa.
The guard then said to a CBC crew, "OK, do you want to stop filming?"
A World Exchange Plaza representative has refused to comment on the matter.
The charity's Christmas Kettle campaign is well short of this year's goal of $375,000.
The Salvation Army's Max Bulmer attributed the shortfall to donor fatigue. "I think the main reason is that since last December, we have had three major world disasters. We had the tsunami, hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake," said Bulmer.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/22/salvation051222.html