CORPS OF SANTA'S HELPERS TACKLES A SNAP ASSIGNMENT - BUSINESS KEEPS TRADITION ALIVE Seattle Times, The (WA) (Published as THE SEATTLE TIMES) - December 23, 1996 Author/Byline: JANET I-CHIN TU, SEATTLE TIMES STAFF REPORTER Edition: FINAL Section: LOCAL NEWS Page: B1 Around several large tables in the basement of a Ballard home, busy grandmas, decked out in bright Christmas sweaters and jewelry, are inserting photographs into decorative paper frames. "Oooh, look at the redhead! Isn't she cute?" one woman exclaims. "Ahhh, he'll grow up to be a handsome young man!" says another. So the holiday season goes for the employees of the family-owned Arthur & Associates, which shoots photographs of people posing with Santa Claus at Seattle-area malls and stores. The Viydo family has owned and operated Arthur & Associates for 34 years, but the business goes back much longer. Hazel Viydo, 74, and her late husband, Kenneth, bought the business in 1962 after the death of Arthur French, a photographer who began the Frederick & Nelson Santa-photo tradition in 1943. After Frederick & Nelson closed in 1992, the Viydos set up operation in Westlake Center, Southcenter, the Everett Mall, and Lamonts stores at Northgate, Alderwood, Lake Forest Park, Totem Lake and SeaTac. Each year they shoot tens of thousands of photos of youngsters posing with St. Nick. Once the photos are developed, nine women package the pictures in Hazel Viydo's basement, guided by the energetic Hazel. Dressed in a green-and-gold Christmas vest over a white turtleneck and red pants, she darts from film canisters to label boxes to the telephone, flashing a grin a minute. On a recent morning, she's been working since 4 a.m., getting film ready for the photo editors and laying out materials for "the girls," as she calls her workers. Most of "the girls" have worked with the Viydos for at least five years, some since the Frederick & Nelson days. One woman has worked with the company since it was owned by Arthur French. And, oh goodness, do these women have stories to tell about the photos they've seen: A man proposing to his girlfriend and infants hooked up to oxygen tanks. "One time a family photo was taken at two in the afternoon, and then the grandfather died that evening," says Norma Gaynor, 66, who has worked with the Viydos for eight years. "They called to say they were so glad they had that picture." Then there's the photo of the woman who held a large snake's head in her hands, its body wrapped around her. The man she was with had snake tattoos on his arm. "Santa sat waaay back," Norma says. The girls also will tell you about the Santas at each mall - 32 of them this year, most of whom have worked for the Viydos for 10 to 12 years. There's Santa Bob at Westlake Mall, for instance, who's worked for the Viydos for about 10 years. Or Santa Paul, who worked at the downtown Frederick & Nelson window for 29 years and is now at Lamonts in Northgate Mall. ("We had 25 calls in one day asking where Santa Paul is," Hazel says). Each Santa, it seems, has his own following. The late Santa Seaborn - now there was a Santa who went "above and beyond" for his following, the women say. He worked as a Santa for some 20 years at the Bellevue Frederick & Nelson and learned sign language for the deaf children who came to see him. "The last year he played Santa, he was quite ill," says Sue Amundson, 72. "All the children who had their photographs with him over the years - they were all grown by then - came to see him because they knew it was his last year." Hazel's own children grew up in the business. Since 1969, when Hazel's husband died, the company has been run by Hazel and her two sons, Hillard, 44, and Jason, 39. Her grandsons have worked as photographers. They shoot photographs seven days a week, from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve. The rest of the year, Jason works as a real-estate agent and Hillard has a gardening business. Film is processed and printed each night, then delivered to Hazel's basement to be packaged. They'll be processing and printing, ooh-ing and aah-ing, framing and stuffing from now until the beginning of January. Hazel will be working until the end of February to tie up all the loose ends. "When Christmas Eve comes, I am exhausted," she says. "But so what? As long as the kids get their pictures. "As long as there's Christmas and Santa Claus, there'll be photos of children with Santa. And as long as there are photos, we'll be doing them." ---------------HOLIDAY CLOSURES ---------------What's open and closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: -- Banks: Closing at 3 p.m. tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Buses: Sunday service Wednesday for Metro, Community Transit, Everett Transit and Pierce Transit; Sunday service through Jan. 1 for Community Transit's Boeing in-county commuter routes. -- Ferries: Holiday schedule for Mukilteo-Clinton and Seattle-Bremerton on Wednesday; Saturday schedule for Edmonds-Kingston on Wednesday; Friday schedule for Anacortes-San Juan on Thursday. -- Garbage collection: Transfer stations close at 3 p.m. tomorrow, no garbage, recycling or yard-waste collection Wednesday for Seattle Solid Waste; transfer stations closed Wednesday for King County Solid Waste. -- Government offices: Closed Wednesday. -- Libraries: Closed tomorrow and Wednesday. -- Liquor stores: Open regular hours tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Major shopping malls: Open tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Pacific Science Center: Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Pike Place Market: Closed Wednesday, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. other days (varies by merchant). -- Postal service: Regular delivery and hours tomorrow. No home delivery and offices closed Wednesday. -- Schools: Winter break. -- Seattle Aquarium: Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow and noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday. -- Seattle Art Museum: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Seattle Center: Winterfest activities from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow, closed Wednesday. -- Woodland Park Zoo: Open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow and Wednesday. Caption: PHOTOJIMI LOTT / SEATTLE TIMES: HAZEL VIYDO, LEFT, HOLDS A 1954 PHOTO OF DOUG HARDWICK, COMPANY BUSINESS MANAGER. HER SON HILLARD HOLDS A CURRENT PHOTO. Index terms: HOLIDAY CLOSURES (SEE END OF TEXT); LIST Record: 2366480 Copyright: Copyright 1996 The Seattle Times