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Two Snells Beach siblings scored the ultimate Christmas treat last month when they got to star on their very own float in the annual Farmers Santa Parade in Auckland.
Ruby Burt, aged 8, and her 11-year-old brother Aston were both winners in a trans-Tasman LEGO competition to redesign Santa’s sleigh for delivering presents during a Down Under summer.
Ruby came up with a practical tractor sleigh that she said was inspired by living at Snells Beach and seeing lots of tractors being used by boaties.
“You always see a tractor pulling a boat in summer and I thought it was a good place for Santa to put Kiwiana things, like jandals, hokey pokey ice cream, a fishing rod and, of course, a rugby ball,” she said.
LEGO NZ agreed, and recreated her winning design as a life-size LEGO Santa sleigh for the parade through the city on Sunday, November 24.
Aston said he couldn’t believe they both got to take part in the parade on their very own float.
“It was so much fun, I was so excited,” he said. “My favourite part was riding in the sleigh. I still can’t believe our sleigh came to life and we got to ride in it.”
Ruby agreed, saying the parade was amazing.
“My favourite part was waving to everyone and seeing my friends’ faces in the crowd,” she said. “I will always remember it.”
Aston’s design for a koru-shaped Santa sleigh didn’t miss out either, as that design, together with Ruby’s tractor, were both featured as the only NZ inclusions in a Santa’s Summer Sleigh storybook by award-winning Australian children’s author and illustrator Sophie Beer.
LEGO NZ and Australia commissioned the book to showcase all the winning sleigh designs from across Aotearoa and Australia, and featured all the young designers as characters.
Sophie Beer joined Ruby and Aston on the parade float, then did a live reading of Santa’s Summer Sleigh to children visiting Santa’s After Party in Aotea Square, together with broadcaster Waimirirangi Lee-Reiri, who read out the book in te reo Māori.
Ruby and Aston were given a copy of their special book and said it was exciting to see themselves as characters.
“I saw it for the first time on Sunday and it was better than I could have imagined,” Aston said, and his sister agreed.
“It feels really special to see my name and picture in a book, especially my sleigh being a cartoon picture,” Ruby said. “It’s my new favourite book.”
Aston and Ruby have donated a limited-edition signed copy of the book to their school library at Snells Beach School, so that lots more people can enjoy it.
Santa’s Summer Sleigh is available as a free digital e-book on the LEGO website at https://www.lego.com/en-au/local-news/news/2024/november/anz-holiday-campaign-summer-sleigh and as an audiobook in both English and te reo Māori.
