"It's really the saddest day of my life," states longtime Winterport resident Joe Brooks.

Brooks is referring to his being fired Thursday evening from his job as the Bangor Mall Santa Claus for the center court picture taking kiosk

State Representative Joe Brooks has played the role of Santa for over 20 years and was hired by the Noerr Company out of Colorado.

Brooks says he was fired by the company over the phone during a break, with a waiting line of children at the kiosk.

According to Brooks, the kiosk operators gave those waiting vouchers for a free photo and explained that Santa had to leave because of a family emergency.

Brooks says he recalled a few weeks ago having a private conversation with a kiosk employee as he was leaving the set and he used the word damn, but he was never approached by anyone from the company until he was fired and escorted out of the Mall by the security officer last night.

Brooks says he’s frustrated the company will not tell him exactly what the alleged complaints suggest was his wrongdoing.

We have not yet heard back from the Noerr Company for comment.

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