The decorations have been put away.
The first set of batteries have been replaced in the children’s toys and for mom and dad, there are resolutions to lose the extra pounds gained from those yummy holiday treats.
But a month after Christmas, a Sweet Home couple remains jolly–even without their red suits.
Rob and Donna Poirier keep a Santa and Mrs. Claus attitude, long after their bright red costumes have been relegated to a closet awaiting next year’s performance of the Singing Christmas Tree.
For the past five years the Poiriers have performed as the jolly couple and say it provides them year-round enjoyment.
“I work with Molly Laycock at the municipal court and she’s on the board of directors for the Singing Tree,” Donna said of how the couple gained their seasonal personas.
“We started out at the Singing Christmas Tree, then the library asked us to visit there and then Anita Collin’s Daycare,” Rob said.
Rob said he always wanted to perform with the Singing Tree, but his schedule as a communications supervisor at the Lebanon Police Department, made it difficult to commit to the practice schedule required of the singers.
“We love it,” Rob said of the Santa Claus role. “We like doing things together as a couple. We volunteer at the Oregon Jamboree, I serve on the school budget committee, we helped with 4H when Kristin was involved there.”
The Poirier’s have a couple extra special events to which they devote time, that’s the Cops and Lobsters program and Law Enforcement Run that raise funds for the Special Olympics program.
Donna has also served several years on the board of directors of the Oregon Association of Court Administrators and Rob adds she’s a “dance mom” to the Huskiette dance team.
“We just try to ad lib as much as possible,” Rob says of the Santa role. “It’s nice knowing so many people in the community because we can work that into talking to the kids.”
The Poiriers call the Singing Tree a “first rate production.”
“We’re not professionals but it’s very high quality and a lot of fun,” Rob said.
The Santa and Mrs. Claus roles also allow the couple to step into an animated role.
“We like to have fun. Our goal is to make people laugh and to smile as much as we can,” Rob said.
Rob graduated from SHHS in 1981 and spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps band. He plays the tuba, trombone and bass guitar.
Donna graduated from SHHS in 1978.
The couple enjoy doing projects around their home.
“We really like flower gardening,” Donna said. “I like all flowers. I can pull weeds for hours.”
As for their community involvement, the couple say they don’t have a lot of money but they can give back to their hometown by volunteering.