Mr Christmas: The man who has celebrated the festive season 365 days a year...
5th January 2008
As the rest of the country pulls down its decorations to escape the curse of Twelfth Night, a man who has celebrated Christmas every day for 15 years will be making his home even more festive. Andy Park, 43, known as Mr Christmas, is putting up new tinsel and a fresh tree at his house in Melksham, Wiltshire, despite the superstition about leaving decorations up after January 6. Every day since 1993 the divorced electrician has breakfasted on mince pies and sherry, before opening the presents he has bought for himself. Then he eats a full roast turkey lunch and watches the Queen's Speech on video.
The festive father-of-one, said: "Tomorrow will be a sad day for me, because that's when everyone else will have taken down their decorations and put them in the recycling bin. But I will be hanging up all the new ones I have bought at bargain prices in the sales and making everything as festive as possible. I will keep on fighting for Christmas. It all started back in 1993. It was the middle of July and I was just feeling fed up. I was bored, so I went home and put the decorations up. Suddenly I was happy. I thought, this is fun.
"So I did it again the next day, and the day after that. Since then my routine every day has been to get up and have seven or eight mince pies and glass of sherry for breakfast. After that I open the presents I've wrapped for myself. I've given myself some nice ones over the years - one year I got a Mercedes! I go to work for about three hours, then come home and have a full Christmas dinner, with a glass of champagne. After that I watch the Queen's speech on tape, then maybe a Christmas film like the Great Escape.
"People do think I'm crackers, but I enjoy treating myself and I'm the only one in the world who does it. Others have tried to copy me, but they can't last. I'm the only one who can hold out. When people come to my house it turns a sad face into a smiling one, and the happiness stays with them. My daughter used to love celebrating it with me but she's 22 now and it is a bit of an embarrassment for her."
The Twelfth Night superstition originates from the belief that tree spirits lived in sprigs of holly brought in as Christmas decorations. It was necessary to take the decorations back outside once the bad weather had passed, to stop the spirits causing mischief indoors.
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7 or 8 mince pies for his breakfast every day!
