Santa Bill

For the past 13 years, Bill Fry was a staple icon in the Hershey area as he played Santa both in Hershey's Chocolate World and Hersheypark for GTP. He made 1000s of children smile and families from all over the country would come year in and year out to get their picture with Santa Bill. We always got people coming back asking for him specifically because he played the part so perfectly. He wasn't a Santa that would go around yelling "HO HO HO" to everyone, but the few times that I had the pleasure of hearing it were some really special moments with some incredible kids.

Beyond bringing joy to the kids and families that came to visit, he made working during the holidays so much more fun. When it wasn't busy he would always tell stories about his time working with the railroad before he started working as Santa and always liked to talk about his family.

Bill was also a huge fan of the Oakland Raiders even though he knew they were not a great football team. Every Sunday he had a Raiders shirt on underneath his Santa Suit and his silver pickup truck had two huge Raiders logos on the doors. If you didn't have good news to tell him about his team he didn't want to hear it until the game was over.

Sadly, Bill passed away in early November and he will not get to sit as Santa this season. We will miss his charm and Christmas "cheer." Two days after Bill passed away the Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, which could not have come at a more perfect time during the season.

Bill, thank you for sharing your Christmas joy with so many of us and sharing the magic of the season with everyone at GTP. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partnering to Create Special Memories

Image
We had a great opportunity to work with Hershey’s Chocolate World’s Guest Service Team and Manager, Roger Sansoni, to create a lasting memory for a special family. “A guest, Dan Adamson, reached out to Hershey’s Chocolate World a few weeks ago wanting to “re-propose” to his wife of 12 years (Heather) on our Chocolate Making Tour Ride. As Dan explained to me, his family had suffered the loss of their home and all of their family’s belongings in a devastating house fire late last year and was looking to create some new memories here at Hershey’s Chocolate World - one of their family’s favorite destinations. Additionally, Dan was really hoping that we could somehow display a picture of him proposing to Heather on the digital photo wall inside of our Chocolate Making Tour Ride while he surprised her with a new engagement ring.” - Roger Sansoni, Mgr, Guest Experience GTP’s, Justine McCarty and Felicia Metze gladly assisted with the plan to surprise Dan’s wife. Roger r
Read more

Skupics Stuidos

Image
Skupics Studios' continued growth over 2021 was fueled by many businesses' needs to expand their product lines for ecommerce. We had our busiest year to date, and because of that, we have had the pleasure of growing our team. Dominic Tannehill joined the team in October of last year. He brings a fresh perspective, creative ideas and new energy into the studio. We look forward to growing further in 2022, while continuing to serve our valued long-term clients.
Read more

Cultural Connections: Learning Opportunity

Image
T ypically, students who participate in the exchange program work for one season. This past year one student, Anderson, decided to return for a second-year because he enjoyed it so much, and since he did such an impressive job in his first year, we were able to promote him to a Team Leader upon his return! His knowledge and experience were incredibly helpful throughout the training of all the new students this year.  He knew the best way to explain procedures and what to say to guests that helped to bridge the language barrier.  This also helped make everyone feel comfortable with asking questions, bringing up suggestions, and a part of the GTP family. At the end of the summer, we asked Anderson to write a little bit about his experiences here in American: "Even during 21st century there are still a lot of misunderstandings occurring in different countries due to different culture routines. But GTP Corp which cooperate with culture exchange institution supply opportunit
Read more