Ep. 47 - The National Santa Conversation with Tim Connaghan - Assorted Conversations

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
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(00:23):
And now, here's this week'sepisode.

(02:01):
Merry, happy everything.
I truly hope this season ofgiving finds you making memories
and embracing the season's giftsof hope, gratitude, and
connection.
Just a listener note for today'sepisode.
If you have little believerswith an earshot, you may want to

(02:21):
pop in your earbuds or listen inanother time because I don't
want to spoil anything.
Okay, this week I got to sitdown with the man, the myth, the
legend, Santa.
I can truly say, Santa, I knowhim.

(02:42):
My guest not only looks and actsthe part, but he truly is a
heart forgiving, not just onChristmas Eve, but for the
entire year.
He's graduated close to 6,000Santa's and Mrs.
Clauses through his Santaschool, and that's just the tip
of the iceberg of inspiringothers to create magic and

(03:04):
special moments.
Take a listen to this week'sepisode, and I'll see you on the
other side.
Today's guest truly embodies thespirit of the season all year
long.
Known nationwide as NationalSanta, Timothy Conahan is more

(03:24):
than just the man in the redsuit.
He's a storyteller, ajoy-bringer, and a living
reminder of the power of belief,kindness, and tradition.
He's appeared on nationaltelevision, led major holiday
events across the country, andpartnered with leading charities
to bring Christmas magic tounderserved communities.

(03:45):
He's also the founder of his ownSanta School, where he trains
and mentors Santas from aroundthe world, and he's the author
of three books dedicated topreserving the true heart and
craft of Santa and the holidays.
Through countless appearances,heartfelt visits, and community
outreach, he has dedicated hislife to spreading hope and

(04:08):
holiday wonder far beyond themonth of December.
I am honored to welcome the oneand only National Santa himself,
Timothy Conahan.

SPEAKER_04 (04:19):
Ho ho ho ho ho there.

SPEAKER_01 (04:25):
How are you?

SPEAKER_00 (04:26):
I am doing wonderful.
Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 (04:29):
That is fantastic.
Now I know this is your busyseason, so I truly appreciate
you taking the time to have aconversation with little old me.

SPEAKER_00 (04:38):
Oh, well, thank you so much.
But I know that it's not justyou, it's all those people out
there who listen to you, and Iget to reach out to them too.

SPEAKER_01 (04:48):
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So, first things first, you areso accomplished.
There are so many things thatyou're involved with in
spreading Santa magic, holidaymagic, charitable giving,
teaching folks the art of beinga Santa or a Mrs.

(05:10):
Claus.
How did this all begin for you?
What inspired you to start thisjourney?

SPEAKER_00 (05:18):
Well, I think like many times when you talk to an
athlete or any performer, a lotof people, we always talk about
that a lot of what we do, we weowe to the man above.
He has kind of set me on apathway to doing this.
But my first experience beingSanta Like was uh in Vietnam,

(05:39):
out in the out in the netherregions of uh Vietnam.
It was December 23rd, 1969, andall of the uh members of my unit
had gone back into the main basecamp for a Christmas dinner two
days before Christmas, becausewe were going to be back out in
the field on on Christmas Day.

(06:01):
So we came back in, and a friendof mine sat down in a folding
chair, and he took Barbasolshaving cream and put it on his
face, and he and and we all hadfun taking pictures with him.
Well, after about 15 minutes,that in that humidity, that
shaving cream was melting andfalling away.
So I grabbed the can of shavingcream, put some on, and I traded

(06:24):
with him.
And so I did that just for fun.
But there's a lovely thing aboutit.
You feel a certain warmth, andeverybody seems to have some
sort of genuine spirit, youknow, for the holidays and
everything.
So that was 1969.
A year later, I'm home.
I'm going to college.

(06:45):
I got a job with a majordepartment store, working before
the store opened, 5 a.m.
to 9 a.m., vacuuming andcleaning and getting the store
ready for customers.
And it was at that job, it wasBullock's Department Store in
Los Angeles.
Bullocks was owned by Macy's.

SPEAKER_03 (07:04):
Ah.

SPEAKER_00 (07:05):
And the HR director came to me and knew that I was a
communications major.
And she said, Can you fill infor three days?
Because we we haven't got ourSanta yet.
And we need someone to fill infrom Black Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday.
And, you know, I said, Oh, okay,you know, it was extra money,
you know, and no classes goingon.

(07:28):
So, okay, I'll do that.
And I did that for three days.
And on Sunday afternoon, themanager of the store came to me
and said, You're good.
And would you like to work allseason long?
And they offered me$3,000.
And this of course was back in1970, and I'm going to college
on the GI Bill, you know,$400 amonth.

(07:50):
And uh so that was, you know,I'm my eyes just you know lit
up.
So I said, sure, I'd be glad to.
And I talked to my teachers andtold them I'm gonna miss some
classes.
But I I ended up being theirSanta at the department store
for three years.

SPEAKER_04 (08:06):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (08:07):
Experience.
When I graduated and I went offinto communications and
broadcasting and you know, mydream career that I wanted, I
still had a little bit of Santato do things for friends and
family, sometimes for thecompany I was working for.
And so it worked out justwonderfully.

SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
What moment made you realize that this was more than
just a seasonal role?

SPEAKER_00 (08:34):
Well, again, I started doing this just for
friends and family.
So for the next 20, 25 years, itwas just little things at
Christmas that were just forpeople I knew.
In the 1995 or so, there was aTV show around America.
Everybody probably remembersthis, or some of your listeners
remember, Lifestyles of the Richand Famous with Robin Leach.

(08:58):
And Robin would followcelebrities and well-known
sports figures and people.
He would follow them around fora day and talk about their
lifestyle.
And it was it was calledLifestyles of the Rich and
Famous.
And he would always talk aboutchampagne wishes and caviar
dreams.
And he found a Santa in NewYork.

(09:19):
And this was Santa Brady White.
Brady was the Santa for NeimanMarcus, ATT, Cartier, a lot of
other things.
And he followed Brady around.
And the the punchline or cutline that made the biggest punch
with me and my wife was when hesaid, and this Santa makes$1,000

(09:42):
a day.
That's a really good impression.
I got this little pain in myribs, you know, my side.
It was my wife's elbow.
And my wife said, You know,honey, when you retire, I'm
gonna let you do that.
So in the 25 years, though, thatI did other work, my work ended

(10:04):
up moving from broadcasting tofundraising.
And I worked with the JerryLewis Musket Industry Telethons
as a volunteer, and then endedup getting paid jobs working for
the American Cancer Society, theCity of Hope Medical Center, and
the March of Dimes.
And I would coordinatewalk-a-thons, testimonial

(10:24):
dinners at the Beverly HillsHotel and Century Plaza, big,
big dinners in Los Angeles.
You know, dinners at the end ofthe dinner, we collected$17
million for a research hospital.
Really wonderful work.
I also got to produce telethons.
So I was in broadcasting alittle bit.
So now we move through all ofthat to 2000, and I've got the

(10:50):
beard growing, and I find outthat there's a little club of
Santa's in Los Angelescommercial, and they kind of get
together one day a year forlunch in January, and I meant
them, and I started getting uhjob leads.
I also, because of my work inthe studios, uh, had contacts at

(11:13):
NBC and other places.
And next thing you know, I'mgetting to do the Tonight Show.

SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
During high school and during my 25 years and with
the teleth, I also knew peopleat the TV stations.
One of them was a gentlemannamed Johnny Grant.
Johnny Grant was the honorarymayor of Hollywood.
Johnny was also one of BingCrosby's best friends and was
actually the uh Ed Sullivancharacter in the movie White

(11:41):
Christmas, and also a retiredbrigadier general, I do believe.
And he he produced the HollywoodChristmas Parade.
So I went to him and said, hey,I belong to a club.
We've got all these real beardedSanta's.
Maybe you need a real beardedSanta in a parade.
And he couldn't do anythingimmediately, but after three

(12:02):
years of talking with him, heasked, would I be the Santa?
So I became, as a volunteer,Santa for the Hollywood
Christmas Parade, which alsosupported the Marine Corps, Toys
for Tots Foundation.
And that's where I ended upbecoming the Santa for the
Marine Corps.
But the parade also opened upmany, many doors.

(12:24):
You know, uh Robin McGraw saw meand said, Oh, we need to have
him on Dr.
Phil's show, and little thingslike that.
Wow.
So many doors open because of myvolunteer work, you know, which
is a wonderful thing.
And as I said earlier, this paththat I am following, you know, I
have to look and say that fromhigh school on, God pointed the

(12:48):
direction for me.
And every job that I've ever hadfor any type of company, whether
it was working at a pizza parloror a home improvement company or
whatever, there I learnedsomething that I can apply to
what I'm doing now as Santa.

SPEAKER_01 (13:05):
Right.
That that to me is that wholejourney is amazing.
And it was just a series ofleaning into whatever
opportunity you had and thendrawing from past experiences to
keep the journey moving forward.
I I think that is amazing.
So let me ask you, what's thebiggest misconception people

(13:30):
have about being Santa?

SPEAKER_00 (13:32):
Well, if you're talking from the Santa side, we
have individuals that willcontact, example, I do I teach
my Santa school.
I have 5,700 graduates.
It's actually about 3,900 peoplein all.
Some of them have attended twotimes, maybe three times.
But the thing is, most people,you know, you know, have it in

(13:57):
their heart.
In fact, we we call it reluctantSanta.
They weren't planning on it.
The daughter came to her dad andsaid, Dad, would you be Santa
for your granddaughter's daycarecenter?
Or, hey, Bill, you are so funnyaround the water cooler.
You would be great as Santa forthe company party.
And once in a while, they cometo some Santa and say, Hey,

(14:21):
Jerry, the suit fits you.
You know, in other words, you'rea big guy, you make a perfect
Santa.
And they're not planning ondoing it.
They go into that room withthose children.
They are nervous, they've gotbutterflies, they don't know
what's going to happen with thechildren.
But the minute they connect withthe children, the magic happens.

(14:44):
Because no matter who is wearingthe red suit, even if you or one
of your listeners who had neverdone this, man, woman, it
doesn't matter, it doesn'tmatter what ethnic background
you have, if you have on alittle beard and wig and a red
suit and you walk into a roomwith children five years old,

(15:05):
the children create the magic.
The fantasy in their mind, youare Santa.
If they're afraid of you,they'll be afraid, just like
they would of any Santa.
But in most cases, you can feelthe love.
And what happens is thoseindividuals, after that event is
over, they have a bit of a high,a euphoria.

(15:26):
It's like a rock star on stage.
You get a high.
And so all of a sudden they say,Wow, I gotta do this again.
This is fun, you know.
There are others out there whouh, you know, I get calls and
say, Hey, you know, I'm I'm 260pounds and I've got a full

(15:47):
beard, and everybody tells me Ishould be a Santa Claus, and you
know, I heard I can make, youknow, so many thousands of
dollars a year and all that.
And it's more than that, youknow.
Now, if we look from the otherside, let's look at the moms and
dads and the families out there.
Many of them think that thatperson sitting there in the

(16:08):
chair with the red suit isprobably just somebody's
grandpa, you know, just a nice,warm fellow.
But today, we have to make surethat the Santa knows how to
answer all of the questions thatchildren might bring to him.
Right.
The easy ones and the difficultones.

(16:30):
We have to make sure that theSanta is well groomed, that he
understands that his mainmission is the children, but he
also has to attend to the needsand the demands the parents
might have.
Sometimes you'll have four orfive bosses when you're sitting
there.
You have the children, you havethe parents, you have the photo

(16:51):
company, you have the shoppingmall.
By the way, the fifth boss isMrs.
Claus.
In fact, sometimes I actuallysay, if we look at it truly, it
starts, you know, you've got thechildren and the parents and the
photo company and Mrs.
Claus, and then you've got theLord above, you know, but you

(17:11):
have receipts, everybody.
In addition, these Santas theyhave to maintain that wardrobe.
Plus, they need to havebackground checks.
We want to make sure thatanybody sitting in that chair
has been vetted.
Right.
Parents want to know in comfortthat the person their child is
visiting is someone safe to bewith.

(17:32):
Just like your doctor, yournurse, your teacher, your
minister, they have all beenthrough some sort of vetting.
Santas are vetted, also.
We have background checks andeverything.
Plus, they all have to haveliability insurance and all the
other business needs to go withit.
So there's a lot more to it thanso a Santa might spend$1,000 on

(17:54):
a Santa suit and$400 oninsurance and$100 for a
background check, all before heeven sits down in the chair.

SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
Wow.
I I never, I mean, I understoodabout the vetting process,
didn't think about theinsurance, didn't think about
the costume.
I figured the suit came with thejob.

SPEAKER_00 (18:18):
Well, some of the Santas working with major
shopping malls and shoppingcenters may wear a suit they
supplied.
Example, here in New York, uhBloomingdale's the last couple
of years had a tie-in with themovie Wicked.
So the Santa suit was based onOz and it was green.

SPEAKER_01 (18:41):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (18:42):
So the Santa, they had to make him a custom suit
that he wore only in theBloomingdale set, as they tied
it in with Wicked.
So he was the Santa for all thechildren and the little people
of Oz.

SPEAKER_01 (18:56):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
So it was kind of a unique, unique twist on a movie
tie-in, that type of thing.
So, you know, there aredifferent things.
We've also had Santa's wear adifferent type of green suit to
promote ecology and recycling.
And of course, if you are aJewish in some communities to
kind of counteract the theChristian message with Santa

(19:20):
Claus, parents sometimes willhave Harry Hanukkah, who looks
like Santa, but he wears a bluesuit.
And he talks about Hanukkah andand the traditions and things
like that.
So there are a lot of coolthings that are done out there.

SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Yeah, yeah.
So you started your Santa schoolwhen in your timeline, when did
that happen?
When did when did you say, hereis a craft that needs to be
taught?
And I'm the guy to do it.

SPEAKER_00 (19:50):
As I said, it was around 2000 when I started
networking with all of theseother Santas in Los Angeles.
One of the gentlemen, RichardChristie.
I wanted to write a book calledBecoming Santa.
He invited everybody at theluncheon to write a chapter for
the book.
So I wrote a couple chapters,but I wrote mine on getting

(20:11):
started in the business and thesteps of doing a visit with a
family, what you need to do,that type of stuff.
More of the mechanics, I guessyou'd call it.
Some of the other Santa's wroteout a hundred questions children
ask.

SPEAKER_04 (20:27):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (20:28):
Or, you know, how do you style your beard?
Things like that.
So the Richard put the booktogether.
But after I wrote my twochapters, uh, that was in 2002,
I sat down and started writing,and that is the first book you
got, Behind the Red Suit.
Right.
Business of Santa.
And as I finished it and startedsharing it with other Santas, I

(20:50):
was told, wow, this reallycovers all of it.
And even though there are otherSanta schools, nobody's ever
covered it this detailed.
You should teach this.
So the summer of 2003, I rentedan auditorium at USC in
California.
I wanted to call my school theUniversity of Santa Claus, but

(21:12):
that had actually beentrademarked by somebody else.
So I call it the InternationalUniversity of Santa Claus.
By the way, the the auditorium Irented was in the School of
Gerontology.
So anyway, we had about 60Santa's and wives, and I taught
the class, and we got wonderfulmedia coverage, Los Angeles

(21:36):
Times, at local TV andeverything.
Two days later, I get a callfrom Atlanta.
There's a gentleman there namedGary Casey.
He says, Hey, we've got 200Santas here and they need
training.
So in August, the my firstschool was in July.
So in August, I went to Atlantaand taught 200 Santas in

(21:57):
Atlanta.
And that, of course, gave me theidea.
Many of the Santas around theUnited States cannot afford to
go to the established schools.
And the established schools wereCharles W.
Howard, which was taught inMichigan one weekend a year.
There was also a school taughtin Denver, and it was one

(22:19):
weekend a year.
And Victor Nevada had a schoolup in Ontario up in Canada,
Calgary, one weekend a year.
And they were all taught inOctober, just before the Santa
went to work.
So I thought I should teach inthe springtime and summer, so
that the Santa's have a littletime to take what they've

(22:40):
learned and apply it to theirwork with the families, whether
it's applying it to gettingtheir suit upgraded or doing
their marketing, because someSantas, everybody assumes that
the mall Santas are it.
That's only about 10% of theindustry.
The other 90% are Santa's who dovolunteer work or are the Santas

(23:04):
who do company parties andfamily visits at homes, you
know, go to the tree farms andand do storytelling in the
libraries and things like that.
That's the other part.
So part of my book talked aboutmarketing too.

SPEAKER_01 (23:26):
Wow.
So and and that's your firstbook.
That was my first book.
That's your first book.
Then you wrote Making the Money.
And when I skimmed, I just fellin love with because I think it

(23:47):
really captures the essence ofwhat everybody remembers from
their childhood when they wentto see Santa.

SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Now again, the second book was also written as
a school book for my school.
Because what I'm trying to, whatI tried to focus on for the
Santa's was let's do a littlemore work and understanding who
is it in line waiting to meetSanta?
Who is in that home you're goingto visit?
What are they expecting?

(24:17):
And everybody wants a magicalmoment.
You know, if you talk to anyfamily about their visits with
Santa, those seem to bebenchmarks in that family life.
People can look at a picturefrom 10 years ago of their child
with Santa and they'll say, oh,that's the year that Betsy got

(24:39):
her first doll.
Or that's when Tommy got hisskateboard or his Hot Wheels.
People remember these things asbenchmarks and magical moments.
In addition, in the last, and inthis book now is almost 10 years
old, in this period in the last10, 12 years, the digital
photography has grown.

(25:01):
And more and more people wantmore than just a picture where a
child is on Santa's knees andwe're all going, cheese.
Right.
They want a picture that hasthat pops, it makes a message.
So I started teaching theSanta's a little bit more about
how to be more photogenic, howto get the children to be more

(25:22):
photogenic, to get the childrento relax for the photo, because
sometimes that photo will bewill show more if the children
are actively involved than thechild just sitting there doing
the cheese.
Yes.
Yes, the child may be nervous.
Maybe mom and dad have taughttheir child to say cheese.

(25:44):
But if I can get the child tostop for a moment, look at me,
talk at me, and they say, okay,don't look at the camera.
On the count of three, we'llboth look at the camera and go,
yeah.
And guess what?
That picture looks different.

SPEAKER_02 (25:57):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (25:58):
Right.
The whole magical thing.
So we covered that.
And in that book, I also includehundreds of photos, examples of
how you can do poses.
And sometimes you have toremember, we're not going to do
these pictures on a Santa set.
We're going to be uh, you know,in some warehouse or a company
party, and maybe not have thebig giant chair and all that.

(26:21):
So the whole, but again, that'snot the focus.
The focus is the children.

SPEAKER_03 (26:27):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
They are the they're the key focus, you know, of the
photo.
Santa sometimes is just a bit apiece of furniture, you know.
But but he's he he cancharismatically make it, you
know.
Example, I might have twochildren sitting on my lap, but
if I turn around and I point atthe camera, you know, a little

(26:48):
bit, you know, during the photoshoot, it looks a little
different.
If I have a couple tweeners, youknow, tweeners, you know,
they're a little awkward.
They don't want to get a picturewith Santa.
They're they're yeah, I can Ican sit there and talk to a
tweener and say, your mom isforcing you to get this picture,
right?
And that that child will say,Yeah, you're right, you're
right.
Now all of a sudden he realizesSanta understands him.

(27:13):
And so I'll say, I'll tell youwhat, you don't have to sit on
my lap.
Let's just look at the camera.
In fact, don't look at thecamera, but when I count to
three, let's both look at thecamera and point at the camera.
We do that, we do, we do that,and we go point at the camera,
and all of a sudden, you know,it it's it's a different
picture.
And and and I'll and I'll tellthe kids, you know, like, yeah,

(27:35):
you know, and guess what?
The child or the the tweenerknows that it's not going to be
a lame photo, right?
If it shows up on Instagram,right?
Well, because on Instagram withtheir hands in their pocket and
going, cheese.
That's their friends will makefun of them.

unknown (27:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (27:53):
So they want to have a little different.

SPEAKER_01 (27:55):
But um that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Making the making the moment is all about
understanding the families, thechildren, and what people want
out of that visit, you know,that meant the memories.
Right.
These wonderful memories.
Additionally, I try to teach thethe Santa's and the people that
are going to my school.
When you're at the party, yes,the number one rule that we have

(28:20):
in our industry is we are therefor the children.
That's that's it.
But children come in all ages.
So the parents, you want to makesure you get pictures with the
parents of the children.
If grandma or Aunt Susie orwhoever it's maybe somebody, and
they may be, you know, in awalker sitting over in the

(28:42):
corner or whatever, you need toaddress them.
Go over visit them, say hi, andget a picture with them.
It makes it magical.
Because you know, and andsometimes it's it's really
beautiful.
You go visit them and their eyestwinkle, they just love it.
They remembered their childhood,and and even the uh the sons and

(29:04):
daughters and other members atthe party, you can see it in
their faces how much they lovethe fact that you took the
moment to go visit with grandmaor Aunt Harriet or whoever.

SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Yeah, yeah.
It's I the minute I saw youtoday, I said to you, I am
compelled to ask for a lightbright and an easy bake oven.
You just mooked the part, and inour you know, brief five-minute
conversation before we startedrecording, I just felt the
warmth.
And it and it and it really doesmatter.

(29:35):
I think there's a little kidinside of all of us.
And it's truly a gift thatsomebody can draw that out.

SPEAKER_00 (29:44):
It it and it's fun.
And you know, sometimessometimes my visits aren't with
any children at all.
I'm visiting a convalescenthome, a retirement home, and
it's all retirees.
And to visit some of them andagain have so much fun with
them, you know, getting picturesand stuff, you know, you know, I
know you're gonna send this toyour daughter, right, or your

(30:05):
kids or something, you know, andand a kid around with them.
Amazingly, even on the street asI'm walking around, people will
run into me.
And I'm not in a red suit, liketoday, as you see me, I'm
wearing a black turtleneck.
But people will see me, and fromthe neck up, they see the white
hair, the white beard, thelittle mustache curls, and

(30:26):
they're going, Are you Santa?
And oh, I wish my grandkids werehere.
And I will turn around and say,Get out your phone.
Let's put let's do a video.
You know, turn the screen aroundfacing you, and I'll tell that
grandparent, I said, Okay, don'tlet them see me.
Start the video and say theirnames.

(30:47):
So, you know, and so grandmawill start the video and say,
Hey Tommy, hey Susie, and I'llsay, Hey, did somebody say Tommy
and Susie?
And I jump into the video.
Oh, whatever.
And of course, I talk to thekids and I I kid around a little
bit, and I'll say, I'm here inNew York and I'm checking on
who's naughty or nice.
And can you tell me, has hasgrandma been nice?

(31:08):
You know, and and you know, it'sa little bit of fun, and they
love it because now they'regonna send it to their daughter
or their son, so the grandkidscan have it, but their daughter
and son is probably blown awaytoo.
Yeah, yeah.
I've done those in airports andall kinds of places.
Usually uh there are people thatdo cameos, you know, you go

(31:28):
online and you pay a fee andthey make a cameo for you.
Right.
I probably do a hundred freebiesof one cameo.

SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Are you on cameo?

SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
I am on cameo, but I don't do I don't do that many
because I'm I'm so busy doingeverything else.

SPEAKER_01 (31:46):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (31:47):
I do work with the Marriott Marquee in New York,
and we do visits for guests herein the hotel, and I do some
cameos for people that areguests at the hotel that want a
special greeting for theirchildren, things like that.

SPEAKER_01 (32:00):
Oh, that's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 (32:02):
And then outside of cameo, I also do virtual visits
to the example, LockenfeldChildren's Hospital, where we
actually I can be on greenscreen with an animation behind
me of the workshop, but theytake the laptop from room to
room, and I get to visit withchildren.
And many there are some childrenthat are kind of isolated.

(32:23):
I won't say they're in a bubble,but the access is restricted
because of their treatments, uh,weaken their immune system such
that they can't have visitors.
So I get to you know do it byvideo.

SPEAKER_01 (32:36):
Yeah.
Oh, that's fantastic.
Now, I want to ask you a littlebit about your personal
experience with all of theseamazing moments and interactions
that you create.
What's something you've seen asSanta that you'll never forget?

SPEAKER_00 (32:55):
I have some really fun experiences, of course.
Everybody has, you know,memorable moments.
And then, of course, everybodyhas what's the most touching
thing and things like that.
I think two things are the mosttouching to me.
The first one was in 1970, thefirst year I worked for
Bullocks.
I also did some volunteer workwith the Junior Chamber of
Commerce, the Lakewood JCs.

(33:16):
And they actually raised moneyand then they adopted, working
with the social servicesdepartment, about 40 children
who were from single parent, youknow, situations.
And each of those children wereinvited to go to a department
store, Woolworths, and given$100to go shopping for their family.

SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (33:39):
And I got to escort this nine-year-old boy, and I'm
taking him through Woolworths.
And Woolworths, for those of youwho are out there that maybe
don't know Woolworths, verysimilar to a Walmart in regards
to all the different types ofproducts you can think of.
And here's this young boy, andhe's wanting to buy spatulas,

(34:03):
toilet paper, oh wow, ketchup.
And and and and I was reallysurprised because I'm I'm
thinking he's gonna buy sometoys for his brothers and
sisters, maybe a toy forhimself, and things like that.
He was the man of the house now,and he was trying to help his
mom.

SPEAKER_01 (34:22):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (34:23):
And he won and and and I'm asking him, and he was
saying that his and his momwould go to McDonald's or Burger
King and collect toilet paper orcollect ketchup packs and things
like that.
And I was, and this was a boythat lived less than a mile from
where I lived.
And I'm going, how can this bein my own neighborhood?

(34:45):
Of course, I'm talking 1970 whenthis happened.
But that that emotionallytouched me that there were so
many children out there thatdidn't have the experience.
And so working with Toys forTots or any type of charity
that's out there trying to helpchildren have a better life.

(35:06):
There's so much we need to dofor these kids because if they
don't have people looking outfor them, they can go the wrong
direction.

SPEAKER_02 (35:16):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (35:17):
And we don't want that to happen.
We want those children to havesome people to look up to, some
mentoring, whatever, to helpthem have a focus so that they
will go on and be good citizensas they grow up.
And so, you know, that reallytouched me a lot.
Other memorable moments, I thinkthe other most memorable is a
convalescent home.

(35:38):
I've done many convalescenthomes visiting with all the
patients, and some of them youvisit, and some of the people in
the home can get around.
They go in a bus to the mall andthings like that.
Then you meet the people thatare confined to wheelchairs, and
they don't get around as much.
Maybe they get to go to themall.
And then you get to those thatare confined to beds.

(35:59):
They can't go anywhere anymore.
They're, you know, you know,they're but they they still can,
you know, play games.
Some of them do computers, theyhave a laptop or whatever.
And then as you move further andfurther back into the
convalescent home, you get tothe Alzheimer's and the dementia
patients.
And generally, when I would doall of these things, they would

(36:20):
always send like a nurse or uhaides ahead of me to prop the
patients up a little bit.
So when I come into the room,they're sitting up.
Because nothing, nothing moredifficult than having a baby in
your arms or a person laying ina bed, and someone wants to take
a picture, and all we're gettingis, you know right up the
nostrils.

(36:41):
The chin in their nostrils,yeah.
So we get them propped up andeverything.
And I'm visiting all thesepatients and people, and you
know, go in, and sometimes youget a smile, and you know, they
they don't know who you are, youknow.
I walk into a room, and here isa gentleman in his, probably in
his late 50s, early 60s, hiswife, his daughter, who's in her

(37:04):
30s, and grandma.
Grandma is the patient, andshe's in the bed, and they've
got her all propped up.
And I walk around the room, andI usually come in with a little
bit of, you know, jingle bells,jingle bells, you know, a little
bit of fun.
And I come into the room, andthis little lady goes, Santay!
And I'm going, Wow, you know,yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (37:26):
Hi, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 (37:27):
You know, and then I look, everybody's crying.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (37:31):
Everybody's crying, it just made me tear up.

SPEAKER_00 (37:33):
Whoa.
And you know, of course, I'dtake the pictures and you know,
all this.
And then, of course, afterwardsthe nurse explained, the lady'd
been in the hospital for three,four years.
Sometimes didn't even know ifshe recognized her son or her
daughter.
You know, didn't know.
Yeah.
And yet when I walked in theroom, I triggered a childhood

(37:56):
memory.
So, to all of them, for thatmoment, they knew that something
up here was connecting.

SPEAKER_01 (38:01):
Yes.
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (38:02):
And they were all joyful on it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (38:05):
And that was a beautiful gift.

SPEAKER_00 (38:07):
Well, the thing is, once she explained it to me, I'm
crying.

SPEAKER_01 (38:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (38:11):
And I gotta wait a couple minutes to dry up before
I go to the next room.
Yeah.
It's it's you know, it's we hearof these situations with
families, and I pray that no onehas to really go through this.
But as we get older and we're anolder society, we have more and
more propensity to find lovedones who become forgetful and

(38:34):
think that Mrs.
Claus is always getting me aboutmy forgetfulness.
You know, I multi, I multitasktoo much.
You know, I'll go into thekitchen to start this, and then
I'll say, Oh, I need to fixthat, and you know, and then and
you know, heaven forbid I leavewater running, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (38:53):
Well, I mean, with like all of these moments and
all of these great experiencesthat not only you're having, but
you're giving to the public atlarge, anybody that you come
into contact with.
How do you handle theresponsibility of being Santa?

SPEAKER_00 (39:12):
One year I had as many as 700 Santas working at
all the Walmarts and all theSears stores in the photo
concessions, you know, coming toget pictures with Santa.
So it's uh, you know, uniquethings that I've done over the
years.
I was basically California, butmy wife is from New York.

(39:32):
And my wife wanted to move backto New York.
My daughter graduated fromcollege here, and so the family
life was in New York, so I movedmore to New York.
And from the Hollywood Parade inNew York, I'm the Santa for
corporate parties for AmericanExpress, NBC, Paramount CBS,

(39:52):
Hallmark Channel.
I like the tree at the New YorkStock Exchange.
I get to do a lot of wonderful,wonderful things.
Some of them, like the StockExchange and the tree lighting
at Fox or things like that,those are all with the Marine
Corps, Toys for Tots.
The Marines, I go wherever theywant me.
I've gone to Nashville and doneGrand Old Opry.

(40:15):
I've showed up on NASCARracetracks.
I've gone on airlifts of toysfor Hurricanes Sandy, Katrina,
Matthew, where we have to bringextra toys in because the
children in those floods andhurricanes lost everything.

SPEAKER_04 (40:30):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (40:30):
We have to restock everything they need.
And not just toys, books, games.
You know, uh during COVID,everybody thought we were going
to shut down Toys for Tots andstuff.
No.
We pushed forward.
General Astor, the uh CEO, he'sretired from the Marine Corps.
He's CEO.
He got a program going and wedelivered thousands, tens of

(40:53):
thousands of books and games tochildren, inner city kids, who
didn't have computers.
So they weren't going to be ableto be on the internet with their
school to keep their mindsstimulated.
So we needed to get them books.
We needed, and we worked with agroup called Good 360.
And with all what the Marineshad and the and the sponsors we

(41:14):
have, again, tens of thousandsof books and games to kids all
over the country.

SPEAKER_01 (41:19):
That is amazing.
I I want to go back to yourSanta school a little bit and
find out from you what qualitiesmake a truly great Santa beyond
the costume.

SPEAKER_00 (41:34):
Number one thing, in fact, when I start the school,
the first thing that pops up onthe PowerPoint screen says, it's
not the beard, it's not the bodyshape.
Okay?
It's not even the red suit.
It's what you have in yourheart.

(41:54):
If you don't have it in yourheart, this may not be for you.
You know, you've got to, becausethe sincerity of what what
you're doing, you can go in andbe, you know, pompous and
boisterous and be Santa cominginto a room, you know, the big
loud ho ho ho's and ringing thebells.
But the minute you sit in thechair and start talking to the

(42:17):
kids, you can't fake that fortoo long.
Your natural self is going tocome through.
And if you're if you were phony,the children would know it.
Right.
Okay.
And of course, most of theSantas who do the home visits
and all these other things,here's the other thing we've had

(42:38):
to do.
Children, let's go back to the1970s when I started.
All of the Santas woretheatrical beards, in other
words, a temporary beard andwig.
And that was it.
But kids are smart.
And as they've gotten older, andin back, by the way, back in the

(42:58):
70s, the visit might have beenfor one minute.
If you remember the movieChristmas Story, Peter
Billingley visiting Santa Claus,he went up the stairway, visited
with Santa, and then down aslide, right?
Right.
The visit's only about a minutelong.
So in that minute, a child is sofocused on reminding, I've got
to tell him what I want forChristmas, that I've been good,

(43:20):
I won't fight with my brother,you know, like that.
That the child doesn't look indetail at the beard and the wig.
But as we move the Santa outinto the mall and out into the
shopping center, and thechildren could see Santa for 20,
30, 45 minutes.
If he had fake boots, atheatrical beard that wasn't

(43:43):
really that good, the childrennoticed.
All of a sudden the magicdisappears.
So everybody in the industry,the photography companies, the
malls, everybody, the transitionmoved over to having real
bearded Santa's.
And it was so great because alot of the baby boomers at that
time were throwing their razorsaway.
Right, right.

(44:04):
A big influx of men with beardsthat could take the jobs.
So real bearded Santa's becamein.
And it also became where we hadto have real boots.
We couldn't have a vinyl coversover street shoes and things
like that.
We had to have realism becausethe children notice that.

(44:26):
Right, right.
You know, so if they can dothat, they can spot someone with
a beard that's you know notreal.
So we have to we bring therealism.
And when you go into somebody'shome, it's even more important
because you're sitting on thesofa for 20 minutes with all the
children.
Right.
The magic is there.

(44:46):
The magic is there, and that'swhat the Santas do.
So uh we have to do that.
And that's what I love about it.
I've I've gotten uh, you know,I've I have learned so much, not
from the Santas that I teach,and from the kids too.
You ever you learn somethingnew?

SPEAKER_01 (45:02):
How what what's one of the most touching success
stories you've had from one ofyour students?

SPEAKER_00 (45:10):
From one of my students?
Well, let's see.
I've had a couple students thathave done some unique things.
I had one student come to theclass.
He was working on a documentaryabout how to become a Santa.
And he actually the when theyfilmed the documentary, one of
the things that I taught in theschool was a cute thing.

(45:32):
Sometimes people book Santa andthey they they wait to the last
minute and they can't get Santabecause he's already booked
everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 (45:40):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (45:41):
But some Santa's will say, I'll tell you what, I
can show up at 2 a.m.
at your house on Christmas Eve.
The kids will be asleep, but wecan do a wake-up call.

SPEAKER_01 (45:51):
Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 (45:52):
And that's and all of a sudden the parent says,
What's that?
He says, That's where I come in,I take a few of the presents,
all the presents are under thetree, I have a couple in my bag,
I kneel down at the tree, andyou go wake your kids up and
tell them, Oh, wow.
And the kids get to go in theliving room and catch Santa in
the act.

(46:13):
And, you know, and then Santa,of course, you know, poses for a
couple pictures, gives them thetwo few presents that are in his
bag, and then while they'reopening the presents, he
escapes.
He disappears.
And this gent this Santa didthat.
And later, the uh director whodirected the whole thing, it was
his niece and nephew that they'ddone the filming with.

(46:36):
He said, I went to Christmaslunch the next day with the gr
with my niece and nephew, andthey're sitting there talking
about how they caught Santa thenight before.
They were so excited.

SPEAKER_01 (46:47):
Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (46:49):
My biggest failing was I didn't film that.

SPEAKER_01 (46:52):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (46:53):
The reaction of the children.
And you know, so you hearstories like that, and and and
all of a sudden, I in my mind, Icould see that whole scene of
him at that lunch table with thegrand with the niece and nephew,
yeah, just explaining all thethings that happened with Santa.
I've had other situations, uh,cute situations where children

(47:15):
come up and ask for stuff, andthen the mother comes over and
says, and the child asks for anelf to come and do her homework.
And I said, Oh, we can't dothat.
You have to do your ownhomework.
That's how you get smart, youknow.
Well, can you give me a realreindeer?
Oh, do you have a stable at yourhouse to keep the reindeer?
Great.
Okay, well, that doesn't workeither.

(47:35):
You know, Santa's magic is toys,and that's a great angle.
Santa's magic is toys, and so wewe try to use that a lot.
And so let me see what I can do.
Well, could I get a laptop?
He says, Well, I'll see what wecan do.
But again, I'm my magic is toys,okay?
Right.
Laptops, anything beginning withan eye, we usually try to

(47:58):
usually try to move the child'sfocus to asking the parent
because they've got to haveinternet connection and phone
lines and everything else.
So again, it's that.
But the mother comes over to me,she says, Oh, Santa, I'm sorry.
She asked for all those things.
I didn't know she was gonna dothat.
I said, I said, it's okay.
Children are told, I grantwishes, and they see the world

(48:22):
that they can pick from in thewishes and what they want.
She says, Oh no, it's not that,Santa.
She said, We're Jewish.
And I told the mother, I said,then even more so.
She probably has friends whohave Christmas, and her friends
are telling her about all thethings that they get from Santa.

(48:42):
She would like to have that samebenefit, you know.

SPEAKER_03 (48:45):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (48:45):
So again, it I know it's a problem coming from a
Jewish household, but again,that's why many Jewish
households, by the way, withHanukkah, have different gifts
on different nights, or theyhave hairy Hanukkah.
They're trying to compete withtheir friends at school.

SPEAKER_01 (49:02):
Right, right.
No, I completely understandable.
I know, you know, as time, astime goes on, and maybe even
back in the day when you firststarted in the 70s, you got a
little bit of this.
But I think as life has movedforward, things have become more
complicated.
Children, in some instances, areforced to grow up quicker than

(49:26):
they were in years past.
How do you teach Santa's tohandle emotional situations with
children?

SPEAKER_00 (49:35):
It is a difficult thing.
And again, you have childrenthat, like you said, they do
grow up faster.
You know, five years of age isusually the age level we look at
right now, where most childrenbelieve completely.
Right.
Once they get into school andthey're with other kids,
particularly if they interactwith kids in other grades, they
quickly get disillusioned towhat maybe the story of Santa

(50:00):
and what Santa does.
So a lot of times the belief inSanta Claus or St.
Nicholas or the gift giving andeverything comes back to the
parents having to have a strongpresence in what's going to go
on and things like that.
But we do get kids to come to usand we teach it in the school.
You're gonna have a child cometo you and says, My friends told

(50:23):
me there's no Santa.
Right.
Wait a minute.
I uh I I feel like Santa, I gota real kid, you know.
It says, I'm real.
Are you are you real?
And and the child, you know,it's kind of, and you have to
understand, their friends aretelling them, no Santa.
Mom and Dad are saying, yes,there is, and their friends are

(50:44):
saying, go check the closets andsee if there's any toys being
hidden, you know, all theseother things.
Yeah, and this and the child isstill coming to you to visit you
because they're hedging theirbet.
They want to make sure that he'sthat that seven-year-old or
eight-year-old, he wants to getthat that PlayStation or that,
you know, Xbox Five or whatever.

(51:04):
They want that special item, butyou know, they want to make sure
they're gonna get it.
So they better go visit Santa,even though your friends are
telling them no.
Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 (51:12):
Well, and and I think there's like a couple
swing years in there where theydon't want to admit that they
might not believe 100%, becauseif they do, they might not get
any presents.
And and that was we had thatwith my two nephews.

SPEAKER_00 (51:29):
There is that fun line that a lot of people use.
Those that don't believe don'treceive.

SPEAKER_04 (51:34):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (51:35):
You know, uh, and of course, some parents say if you
don't believe, you getunderwear.
You know, you're talking aboutdifficult, you know, transitions
and and and emotions and thingslike that.
There is a segment in the schoolwe teach, and a lot of people
don't realize that uh theSanta's are trained in this, but
we have to handle difficultquestions.

(51:57):
Answer children have been toldSanta grants wishes.
Sometimes the children, a childwill take and that be make that
wish an intangible.
It's not a toy, it's not a gift,it's not something real.
It is fixing a social problem.
Right.
Number one, when I started in1970, I was told I would get

(52:18):
these problems of childrencoming to you asking you to fix
a divorce.

SPEAKER_03 (52:22):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (52:23):
That's the number one.
In the 1970s, they said, youknow, you can tell the child
that you're hoping things willget better, you know, you could,
you know, tell them you praythat, you know, everything will
get better for them, and thenmom and dad will get back
together.
Through the years, we're now 50years later, and the word is you
can't really promise them that.

(52:45):
You can't really set up theirhopes that the divorce is not
going to happen.
Because percentage-wise, it willprobably happen.
So all you can do is let thechild know that you have two
parents.
Two parents who love you very,very much.
They will always love you.
Now, let's hope that maybe theywon't have a divorce, but I know

(53:08):
I've talked to other childrenand they've had divorces in
their families, but they'vealways had two parents that love
them.
Santa loves you too.
And when I say Santa loves youtoo, it's time to change
direction of the conversation towhat do you want for Christmas?

unknown (53:24):
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (53:25):
What to do.

SPEAKER_00 (53:27):
And so we have that difficult question.
We have a difficult question ofsomebody's ill and in the
hospital, can you fix them?

SPEAKER_01 (53:35):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (53:35):
Or grandma passed away, can you bring her back?
These are difficult questions.
Again, you can only tell themthey're being loved, that Santa
loves you too, and change thesubject.
And probably the you know, wealso get, you know, bring daddy
home from the war, you know, orfrom the military, or mommy from

(53:57):
the military.
Sometimes in some areas, you geta child who has a a family
member who's incarcerated.
And that's and that's alwaysdifficult because the parent has
done the time, done the crime,but the children do the time.
You know, you have to kind of soyou have to let them know that
they're still loved and move on.

(54:17):
The bad part about this is thatwhen we visit with a child, the
visit's only a minute or two.
That's all.
We don't have a whole time tosit there and talk and work on
their emotions.
We we we have to move on.
So we have to move them,transition them quickly from
that they're loved to, and Santaloves you too, to what do you

(54:38):
what would you like to see underthe tree?

SPEAKER_01 (54:40):
Your third book.
I think it's your most recentbook, Surviving the Holidays,
all about planning, organizing,handling holiday depression,
seasonal depression.
I was very shocked to find outthat that book, which I also

(55:01):
have, I was very shocked to findout that parents and families
were not the originalinspiration for that book, but
it was actually other folks whoare involved in the business of
Santa, the business ofChristmas.
So talk to me a little bit aboutyour inspiration.

SPEAKER_00 (55:20):
I I guess inspiration, it's number part of
it can start with me, okay.
Example, if I'm Santa and I'mworking, I start my work maybe a
week before Thanksgiving,starting to maybe a few little
parties, and then the day afterThanksgiving, lots of little
parties and events.
If I'm working in a mall, whichI did when I started in the 70s,

(55:41):
we started a week beforeThanksgiving.
And you're working 40 some daysin a row, five, six, eight,
10-hour days.
If you don't have your housedecorated for Christmas before
you start work in November,you're in deep trouble.

SPEAKER_04 (56:01):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (56:02):
You've got to plan ahead and do things like that.
And I found out when I startednetworking with the other
Santa's, they were all havingthe same problems.
Now, I was fortunate I was alsoa member of the National
Speakers Association because myprevious life I had worked for
major charities and had beengone out and taught workshops on

(56:24):
fundraising and things likethat.
And a few of the other people inthe Speakers Association were
time management andorganizational skills and things
like that, people that wouldteach you how to unclutter your
life and stuff like that.
And I learned things from them,and I thought maybe some of
these things should be puttogether for the Santas.

(56:45):
So I started creating little webpages on my website for the
other Santas, the Santa's goingto my school on how to organize
their life.
Some of it you start in July.
Right.
People say, what July?
Well, the thing is, is in July,go through your closets, go
through your ornaments, see whatyou're gonna keep for this year,

(57:05):
get rid of what you're not gonnakeep.
Start writing your notes.
If you put a letter in yourChristmas card about what you
did for the year, start writingthat.
Make sure you got the littlestory of your year started.
Start making your list of whoyou're gonna mail things to.
Start making a list of whoyou're gonna buy things for.
Maybe start buying a few things.

(57:26):
You know, if you give gift cardsout, why not buy a couple gift
cards each month instead oftrying to pay for them all in
December?
You know, start doing things alittle early.
And so I gave them a calendarstarting in July.
But I gave them things to do inJuly, things to do in August,
things to do in September,things to do in October, and by
the middle of November, you'redone and you can go enjoy

(57:50):
December.
Okay.
That was for the Sandas.
As I started working on this,though, when we start looking at
the families, you and I andeverybody else, we have a
regular schedule of some sort.
If you work in an office, youwork a nine to five, and you
work right through till justbefore Christmas.

(58:10):
If you're a homemaker, youyou're working nine to five all
nine to five, you're working24-7 taking care of the house.
And it's the same routine everyweek, sometimes the same routine
every day.
Right.
We get towards the holidayseason, and all of a sudden your
calendar starts getting extrathings dumped on top of it.

(58:32):
Oh, I gotta go gift shopping.
Oh, I gotta buy food for theChristmas dinner.
Oh, we I I gotta help get thingsready for you know the
children's Christmas play or aschool event or go visit Aunt
Harriet or and all of a sudden,and then if you work in a
company or something like that,you get invited to parties at

(58:53):
your friends' homes or whatever.
All of these things get thrownon top, and you know, and you
gotta buy a gift to take to thehostess of the party, and you
know, all these things it can bevery, very burdensome when it's
thrown on top of everything.
Right.
Some people it stresses themout.
Plus, the days are shorter, thedays are darker, which is an

(59:15):
automatic psychological downer.
People get depressed justbecause of the shorter days and
the darkness of the days.
That's without any other stuffon top of it.
So I started writing thesechapters and paragraphs of
things geared to the public,geared to all the families, and

(59:36):
wanting them to know things thatthey can do.

SPEAKER_01 (59:39):
Yeah, I looked through it and found all of the
suggestions incredibly helpfulfor that very reason.
Is I'm already juggling life tobegin with, and then you put
holiday life on top of it.
And sometimes that can suck thejoy right out of the holiday
season for me.

SPEAKER_00 (59:58):
That's what what I'm trying to do is.
To allow you to have more timefor joy.
The other thing I put into thebook is put in some days for
yourself.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:09):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:10):
Okay.
You need to de-stress.
So put in some time to go get amani petty.
Go to a spa.
Hey, if it's a guy, put in a dayto go golf or go do something
with your buddies, you know,where you're going to unwind.
Put in some time for yourself.
Even if you want kids, you know,maybe this is the time when you

(01:00:32):
tell your husband, watch thekids.
I'm going to go with mygirlfriends over to, you know.
In other words, you need thoselittle things to break up the
monotony and help you relax alittle.
So then you can actually goahead with the tasks at hand.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:47):
So yeah.
It's a great resource.
And just to kind of close thingsout, a little bit of
lighthearted stuff.
What do you hope people feelafter they meet you as Santa?

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:00):
Well, you know, I've actually had people, you know,
slide up to me afterwards and,you know, just the the glow in a
parent's eyes or something likethat, you know, gosh, you are
the real Santa.
Wow, my kids, you know, it'sgreat.
I hope that when I touch people,you know, I give them some joy.
I often remind them that I amthe official Santa for the

(01:01:23):
Marine Corps, Toys for Tots.
So if you can go online toToysForTots.org, make a
donation, or buy a virtual gift,help us out.
Last year we were able to reach10.3 million children.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:38):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:39):
And this this is a program started in 1947 by a
group of Marines who came homefrom World War II and found out
that there were a lot of orphansin Los Angeles that had no
Christmas because they'd losttheir parent.
So the the Marines collectedtoys and took care of 5,000
children.
That started Toys for Thomas.
Wow.
Today, you know, it's you knowalmost 30 million toys, 10

(01:02:03):
million children, and we now dofoster care programs.
We do where we we make sure thatchildren that are pulled out of
foster homes get something, youknow, as soon as possible to
help them cope being in fostercare.
We also look at working with theIndian reservations, and we
follow up after naturaldisasters.
I am very, very lucky, you know,to be the Santa for the Marine

(01:02:27):
Corps, to be Mariah Carey'sSanta, to get to dance with the
rockheads and all kinds of funthings and stuff like that.
But when it gets down to it,it's the same thing I teach in
my school.
We're there for the children.
Right.
Right.
We're there for the children.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:48):
Santa Tim, I cannot thank you enough for all of the
time you shared with me thismorning.
I know it's your busy season.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:56):
Well, for everybody who's listening, okay, I want to
wish you all a wonderful holidayseason, Merry Christmas, happy
Hanukkah, Malikaliki Paha, allof the little Christmas terms
and stuff like that.
But remember that each of us inour own way can give the joy of
giving and helping others.
And that's what is unique aboutthe human psyche.

(01:03:20):
We can do things for others.
And isn't it nice to get thosewarm, fuzzy feelings of doing
something for somebody else?

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:27):
Santa Tim, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:29):
Bless you all.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Ho ho ho.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:35):
Tim was so warm and engaging, and his passion for
being Santa, mentoring Santa'sand giving back to the people
and communities he reachesthrough his work was nothing
short of inspiring.
There were so many things wetalked about, and one of the
more prominent points for me washow he coaches his Santas to

(01:03:58):
understand the room, whetherit's at a mall, a private home,
a nursing home, or even ahospital.
Teaching them to take the timeto connect with each person in
each different distinctsituation speaks volumes of his
gift for bringing magic.
Although the role has changedover the years, Tim hasn't lost

(01:04:23):
his spark or his twinkle when hediscusses all of the experiences
he's had over the years.
If you're interested in learningmore about Tim, his books, his
Santa school, or if you'd liketo donate to Toys for Todd's
year-round, jump down to theshow notes for all the links so

(01:04:44):
you can start spreading someholiday magic throughout the
year.
I love all my guests, and I knowI'm not supposed to have
favorites, but talking to Santais at the top of my favorites
list.
I hope you all have a happy,Merry whatever it is you
celebrate this season.

(01:05:06):
And I'll see you in two weeks.
Thanks for listening.

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Ep. 47 - The National Santa Conversation with Tim Connaghan

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 47 - The National Santa Conversation with Tim Connaghan