Whitehorse's Garbage Truck Santa rides again, now with an apprentice

Whitehorse's most-beloved municipal sanitation worker — a.k.a. Garbage Truck Santa — is looking to one day hang up his red suit, and so this year he's taken on an eager apprentice.

"I can't do it for the rest of my life," said Wayne Henderson, who dresses up and drives his eye-catching garbage truck, all a-glow with thousands of Christmas lights, around the city each December.

"So I thought, you know what? He's going to drive this year, know all my routes and stuff like that."

The apprentice is Wayne's son, Ryan Henderson. He's been driving the impossible-to-miss vehicle this month while Wayne, still in the red suit, rides shotgun and waves to the delighted, or bemused, onlookers.

This past week, they visited several schools, daycares and seniors' homes.

"The little ones are so excited, and I'll go in, I'll give them a Santa bag full of candies," said Wayne.

Ryan says it means a lot to him to be able to take the wheel this year, and prepare to continue the tradition sometime down the road. Wayne's not quitting just yet, but now Ryan will be ready when he does.

Wayne's son Ryan has been doing the driving this year while Wayne, still in the red suit, rides shotgun and waves to onlookers. (Paul Tukker/CBC)

"First of all, it's a lot of good quality time with my dad, and I just absolutely love seeing all the smiles on all the faces, seeing all the kids run from the schools, you know, it's just ... it's contagious, is what it is," Ryan said.

"I'm more than excited to take it on, because I'd hate to see this go away."

Ryan vividly remembers the day, years ago, when he first learned about his dad's seasonal alter ego. He was with his sister when the TV news came on — and there was Wayne as Garbage Truck Santa.

"My sister tried to really quickly grab the remote and turn it off, but it was too late — and I was just so excited."

'Ron, what do you think if I dress up as Santa Claus?'

Wayne started the unusual tradition in 1991, when he was a young city employee behind the wheel of a garbage truck.

"There was a little boy in Riverdale, he was always there when I came on Thursdays. And I'd let him lift the truck up and pack the garbage, and his mom would take pictures and stuff like that," Wayne said.

"And then I went back into the manager's office and I said, 'Ron, what do you think if I dress up as Santa Claus and do my routes?"

His manager gave him the OK, and Garbage Truck Santa was born.

Within a couple of years, though, Wayne was finding it hard to get his work done while he was dressed up. Kids were running out on the street to greet him and that was making him a bit anxious.

"So I went back to the manager's office and said 'Ron, it's getting a little dangerous out there,' and stuff like that. And he says, 'well Wayne,' he says, 'just go out and drive around for the last week of Christmas.'"

Jordan Henderson, left, with Ryan Henderson, CBC Yukon host Elyn Jones, and Garbage Truck Santa. Ryan plans to take over in the role whenever his dad decides to hang up the red suit. (Joseph Ho/CBC)

Eventually, Wayne got his own garbage truck and he says he gets lots of support now, covering the costs of maintenance and insurance.

Ryan's wife Jordan — calling herself "the future Mrs. Claus" — also gets into the spirit. She runs Garbage Truck Santa's social media pages.

"You know, everyone wants to talk to him every year and it's just, it's amazing," she said. "I think it's just a Yukon treasure and a Yukon celebrity and I think everyone loves it."

Wayne himself is as surprised as anyone that he's become a sort of local celebrity.

"I've been doing this half my life, right?" Wayne said. "I'm totally amazed, myself. And yes, I'm going to keep doing this for as long as I can."