“Christmas Father” visits communities

Hundreds of children in Western Desert communities received a most welcome surprise visit from Santa in early December 2008.

The old fella with the white beard made flying visits to deliver goodies and a veritable feast to the young folk in Jigalong, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji and Punmu, and later, Warralong.

Santa was ably assisted in the challenging logistics exercise by his trusted band of helpers including Telfer’s General Manager of Operations, Mark Mitchell, and the Community Relations team headed by Leon van Erp, with Colin Tincknell, Ben Bryant, John McGuire, Kevin Fred, and Kerry Bradley.

It was fitting that a day full of surprises should also have something unexpected for Santa too, and it did - he got busted! (see photos).
A very young recipient of Santa’s goodwill took the opportunity while sitting on his knee to check out the authenticity of the extensive white beard... and, to the delight of all witnesses, unearthed another, tougher, tuft of the real thing fixed better than glue to John McGuire’s face.