Santa Claus has stories to share!

Our Story Santa is available for Online Virtual Visits for your Home, School or Library!

Contact his helper Randel to schedule a visit at

randel@mcgeeproductions.com

 

Children and Adults love visiting with and listening to Santa Claus himself!

He seems to embody the goodwill, generosity, and merriment of this holiday. 

When Santa tells his stories, every mother’s child listens wide-eyed and breathless, or giggles and laughs as the jolly old elf spins his tales.

A special hand-made paper gift can be arranged to appear like magic in your home after Santa makes it online! 

Santa Sentiments

or Musings from the Man in Red

 1. Jingle Bells! Indeed!

Whenever I am set to appear at a function, the hosts start playing or singing “Jingle Bells” as my cue to enter. Almost without fail! It is a fun and lively little tune, to be sure, and definitely a winter song, but it has nothing to say about or do with Christmas or Santa! So why play the song whenever Santa arrives at a Christmas event? 

 I am sure that it’s because the song is about riding in a sleigh, and the only character modern people know that rides in a sleigh is Santa. Some “Santa wannabees” even carry a strap of sleigh bells to jingle as they walk. HUMBUG, I say!

 Let’s look at this practically for a moment from a Santa point of view…

I, Santa, am the original “Stealth Burglar”! I can enter a home; deposit a ton of presents, stuff stockings, eat cookies, drink milk and leave – Unheard and Unseen! No wonder I am the patron saint of thieves, those naughty boys!  Do you think I am going to blow my cover with a bunch of noisy bells on my sleigh, hat, or suit. I DON’T THINK SO!

 So lose the “Jingle” and welcome me, Santa, with something more fitting like “Santa Claus is Coming” or “Up on the House Top”! 

2.  Gloves.

 Once  as I visited the AmTrak Station in my little town, I met another  Santa  who did mostly mall work. As we exchanged  “shop talk” he noticed that I was wearing black gloves made for working in the cold. He said, “Oh, you need to get yourself some white gloves for Santa work.” I patiently explained how I thought he was mistaken. It went a bit like this:

My gloves are a part of everything that I, Santa, really do! How long would those dress gloves stay white as I feed the reindeer? Ready the sleigh?  Pack the toys? Pat kids on the head? How warm would those white cotton gloves keep my hands as I go dashing through the snow? Scramble  up on the housetops?

 No, my friend, white gloves may look good in photos at the mall, but when you are really out there working to make Christmas merry and bright, you need some good dark, warm gloves!

 3. The Real Santa

There is a special magic that comes with being Santa Claus; a deeper understanding of human nature and insights into the lives of those I meet to make our visits together personal. Children and parents were often amazed at how Santa’s little comments and admonitions would accurately fit their own situations. Most of these are of a general nature such as “Remember to clean your room!” or “Listen to what Mommy tells you to do!” But quite often I experience a clairvoyance that is astounding!

 One night as I stood outside a school theater waiting to make my entrance at the end of an elementary school Christmas program, a smart-alec boy of about 10 started to talk to me. “Are you the  REAL Santa?” he asked.

“I’m as REAL as he gets!” I answered honestly.

“Well, if you’re the real Santa what do they call you in France?” he challenged.

“Pere Noël” I answered and then said a few things in French.

For the next minute or so he kept throwing challenging questions at me to see if he could stump me, but I answered them  all. Finally he had a question that he knew he could disprove me with:

“IF you are the REAL Santa, What did I leave you for your Christmas treat last year?”

Instantly in my mind I saw an orange cake with brown chunks frosted in white icing. “Carrot-nut cake!” I said.

His jaw dropped and he gasped, “That’s right!”

“And it was a bit dry. “ I added.

“That’s because it had been in the freezer since Easter!” He said in a stunned voice.

Then it was my cue to go on. “It was still good. Thanks! And Merry Christmas!” And I left him there to think about what had just passed between us.

4. Of Steamboats, White horses, Reindeer, sleighs, and AmTrak

 Kids will sometimes ask “How do you get around the whole world in one night?”

“I don’t go around the whole world in one night.” I answer. “Large parts of the world don’t celebrate Christmas, so I don’t have to visit there, and some places have me come at different times.”

In Holland and Belgium St. Nicklaas ( or “Sinterclaas”  where the title Santa Claus come from) the jolly old soul arrives on Dec. 5^th bringing small gifts and treats to lay in the shoes of good children as they sleep. He arrives on a steamboat from Spain (I guess he was vacationing there previously) and then rides over the rooftops on a beautiful white horse.

Of course in North America, thanks to the poem by Clement Moore, we know that he dashes through the snows of winter in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

During the last few years as the official Santa for the town of Hanford, CA I would arrive in town  on the southbound AmTrak train the day after Thanksgiving to welcome in the Christmas season.

Whether I travel by boat, sleigh, horse, train, or Toyota Sienna van, I always get to my destination in time to make the season even brighter!