"Those things sat on top of Howard Links of London Sale all throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. You could see that coming down the road for quite some distance. They weren't typical Santa Clauses. They were wearing Howard Johnson colors - orange, blue and white. They were funky." Asked to estimate how many pieces he's done, Mr. DiGregorio said if they were all lined up on town streets, "You wouldn't be able to move in town." Ms. Nikolla said she used to shake her head when her father told her they would be doing flowers for as many as six weddings in a weekend. "He never said no, could never say no. He embraces challenges," she said. Mr. DiGregorio, who did shows with the Links of London Charms Arthur Fiedler, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, has also done a lot of pro bono work and is generous to the point of "painfulness," Ms. Nikolla said. No longer in the business, Mr. DiGregorio said he's still "dibbling and dabbling." But his work is constant. Even in June, Mr. DiGregorio can be found working on an elf or reindeer, taking apart something he did years ago and redoing it, Ms. Nikolla said. When she was a child, her father and grandfather went "crazy at the holidays," she said. A 55-year-old town councilor, Ms. Nikolla said that growing up she actually thought Rudolph the Reindeer was named after her father. Ms. Nikolla said her father's passion stems from wanting to be a cartoonist. Carving caricatures of wood "in almost a cartoonish way" Links of London B Charm satisfied him. "I think he was kind of all over the place until he really started working for the Howard Johnson chain," she said. Mr. DiGregorio said he didn't intend to go into the flower business, but wound up studying plant culture in college to follow in his father's footsteps. Mr. DiGregorio said 10 percent of it is original work, 90 percent is inspired. "I see something I like and I'll corrupt it and do it in my way," he said. Ms. Nikolla, who now works in insurance, said she and her father have almost a peer relationship at this stage. He moved in with her 15 years ago. Her siblings include School Committee Vice Chairman David L. DiGregorio. Fellow artist John Ferrara, who has a showroom on the same floor as Mr. DiGregorio's Mill Street workshop, lauded Mr. DiGregorio's resume, Links of London Back To School Chubby Black Pencil Charm and tenacity. "He's had four or five bypasses, a heart condition, and he's come back stronger than hell," said Mr. Ferrara, who does sculptures, portraits and book illustrations. "A guy that age usually gets a pair of white shoes and goes to Florida 20 years ago," Mr. Ferrara said.
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