• Ferntree Gully, Belgrave Mail
• Mount Evelyn Mail
• Ranges Trader Mail

By Casey Neill

17th March 2009 02:01:11 AM

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UPPER Ferntree Gully’s own Mrs Claus will help Santa keep up with technology at a unique US convention this week.

Bernadette Dimitrov will be the sole Australian representative at the world’s biggest Santa and Mrs Claus convention in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Celebrate Santa will mark the 70th anniversary of the first official Santa gathering and a new annual tradition.

The three-day event kicked off yesterday (16 March) and will include workshops, exhibits and a parade.

Ms Dimitrov loves Christmas.

“I can’t get enough of it,” she said.

The author has interviewed Santas from around the world on her internet-streamed program Conversations with Mrs Claus.

Convention organisers asked her to host Santa podcast workshops to help spread Christmas cheer.

“I’m going to be helping Santa get his message out to the world, which I think is phenomenal,” Ms Dimitrov said.

A scholarship to the Enlightened Millionaire Institute unlocked her Mrs Claus persona.

“They taught me to find what makes your heart sing and then to make that your life,” Ms Dimitrov said.

“I’ve loved Christmas since I was a little girl and it’s always made my heart sing and so I started writing books.”

She has now authored and co-authored seven books and published more than 65 Christmas articles around the world.

“I just went back to when I was a child and the memories and the symbols of what it all meant,” she said.

“I’m not religious at all - I believe in the universal symbols of Christmas.”

Ms Dimitrov discusses symbols and traditions attached to various celebrations on her weekly podcast on Yaktivate.com.

“And how you can utilise that, no matter what your background is, to enrich your life,” she said.

Conversations with Mrs Claus averages 125,000 listeners from more than 90 countries each month.

“And it’s just growing,” Ms Dimitrov said.

“I just love to get the message out. Christmas is universal. It’s a way to bridge gaps.”

Ms Dimitrov worked in human services for 20 years.

“So I’ve always done something helping people,” she said.

“For me this is just a way to extend my passion, but it’s more powerful than working for an organisation where you’re only just touching the surface of someone’s life.”

Ms Dimitrov is studying at Melbourne’s Humourversity to take Mrs Claus to the world as an inspirational speaker.

The training centre teaches public speaking, performance and using laughter for healing.

“The most healing and wonderful and de-stressing thing we can do is to laugh,” she said.

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