Santa Claus from MS works overtime as Velho do Rio and becomes a success

20 days ago, Seu Roberto Ribeiro, the most famous “Santa Claus” in Campo Grande, was peacefully at home when the phone rang and on the other end of the line came an unusual request: “Do you want to make the Velho do Rio?”, account. The speaker was a contractor who already knew him and saw the “good old man” as the perfect opportunity to transform him into a new character for an event.

This is how, at the age of 69, Seu Roberto started to work as an old man from Rio and became the sensation of the 26th National Congress of Municipal Health Departments, held at Bosque Expo, at Shopping Bosque dos Ipês, in Campo Grande.

Since yesterday (13), Roberto is the biggest success of the event and even won over the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, who insisted on taking a picture with the well-known character in Campo Grande.

Roberto has been so successful that the organization has to intervene at times so that he can rest and go to the bathroom, because the public does not stop asking for a photo. He has taken over a thousand photos from yesterday to today.

Dressed, Roberto says that he is wearing a cover made by the same artist from Aquidauan, who made the cover used in the soap opera Pantanal. In the plot, the Velho do Rio is played by actor Osmar Prado.

Despite the all white beard and light eyes, which is marked in his character as Santa Claus, the costumes used left him very similar to the character of the soap opera. “I don’t know if I’m Old Santa or Santa from Rio”, jokes Roberto as he poses for photos with the congress participants.

The idea of ​​taking him to the event came from Cosems/MS (Council of Municipal Health Departments of Mato Grosso do Sul). According to the press office, they were looking for an attraction that would represent the State and could bring the participants together, it was then that they remembered the work developed by Roberto as Santa Claus. “We got in touch with him with the proposal to be an Velho do Rio and he accepted”, explained the advisor Natalia Capille.

Without revealing the value of the fee, Roberto says that he provided the shirt and the staff, made with a hoe handle he had at home. And when he saw himself as Velho do Rio he was happy with the transformation. “It worked, now it’s another job I can do”, he says happily.

Your Roberto will play the character in the event until tomorrow (15).

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