BETHLEHEM, Pa. — As the Lehigh Valley fills with Christmas lights, live advent calendars and carolers, so too comes the procession of Santas.
The Santas who serve the Valley come from different backgrounds, so they all embody the legend in different ways.
Nonetheless, they each bring Christmas cheer with them whenever they wear that jolly red suit.
- Santas who appear across the Lehigh Valley said they found different paths to playing the Jolly Old Elf
- Because of varying audiences, they also embody the legend in different ways
- Many say they use Santa gatherings and internet connections to exchange tips.
Santa Charlie
How does one become a Santa?
For Charles Beck, the Santa at Allentown and Auburn Railroad, the answer is simple: helping a friend.
While Beck's first Santa gig was at a department store in 1975 and he’s worked on and off as a Santa since 2000, he didn’t get serious about it until a friend was in need.
“I did Santa Claus for Cub Scout packs at different events, church groups, senior citizens, nursing homes, stuff like that,” Beck said. “And then a friend of mine ended up on the double transplant list and asked me if I would do all his Santa jobs for him, because he was supposedly going to have his kidney and liver transplant right before Christmas.
“So I volunteered to do all his Santa-ing jobs that he had…but he never did get his transplant and he passed away Monday after Thanksgiving a number of years ago. And I've been doing his Santa jobs ever since. I do a lot of it in his memory.”
Beck assures it isn’t all sad.
“I enjoy doing it," he said. "My wife came out last year for the first time to see me do Santa. She didn't know that I could switch that way and the fun that I was having.”
Santa Tom
Tom Dubreuil was pressed into the Santa ranks at his son’s child care facility in the early 2000s, but jollily returned to the role a couple of years ago for his day job at the Pennsylvania State University’s Lehigh Valley campus.
For him, the best part about being the Santa you see all over Historic Bethlehem is getting to listen and build a special experience for each child.
“You make them feel kind of like you're really listening. Everything they're saying is the most important thing that you're hearing that day.”Tom Breuil, Historic Bethlehem's Santa
“When I talk to a child, I look at them, I look them in the eye. I don't look at mom and dad,” Dubreuil said. “You make them feel kind of like you're really listening. Everything they're saying is the most important thing that you're hearing that day.”
With home visits, he tries to collect information about the children ahead of time. But a lot of his work is done meeting the general public, where he can’t do that kind of reconnaissance.
So he’s built bits and props that help him sell the Santa story.
“I myself this past year created elf cards. So I've got nine different drawings of elves and they have a backstory — why they're drawings and not pictures with, you know, information on each elf. So I try to engage them in some of the magic piece of it.
"I've got a bunch of keys that I carry that I have a story about: One of them is to my house and one's to the warehouse where all the presents are and one's to the reindeer barn and one's the magic key if you don't have a chimney. So it’s about storytelling.”
Santa Hector
Mall Santas are something of a phenomenon now that department stores have largely been left in years past.
Hector Rivera works for Cherry Hill Programs as a Santa at Lehigh Valley Mall, and he spoke to the special nature of the holiday.
“There's like a magical part of Christmas, which is Santa,” Rivera said. “I had an adult come up to me. Well, actually, she was waving from the distance while I was taking pictures with some kids. She was waving and waving. And finally I got to see her and I waved back.
"And she said, ‘It's the child in me,’ and she ran away. It's just unbelievable to see that people react the way they do even after many years. Maybe they don't believe in Santa, but it's part of their lives.”
He also spoke to how that magic transcends language.
“I asked [one young girl], ‘Do you know any English?’ she said she couldn't. But she started doing a heart with her fingers, with her hands. And saying, like, 'I love you.'
"And I made a heart back to her. That's how she communicated,” Rivera said.
“But being Latino, you have people that just, you know, they barely speak any English. So I speak to them in Spanish, and they’re kind of shocked to hear me speak in Spanish. So it's pretty cool.
"It's a good experience that shares that magic of Christmas, that Santa gets everybody. If you can communicate with them, it makes it even better.”
All Together Now
One thing all the Santas mentioned was a sense of Santa community.
Dubreuil is a member of IRBRS, formerly known as the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, which has conventions biannually to bring together their more than 2,200 members.
Rivera is new to the trade, but already has trained on Zoom with Santas nationwide.
Beck attends the Santa Gathering in Lancaster, where more than 175 Christmas performers, including Santas and their Mrs. Claus and elf counterparts, come together each September to prepare for the holidays.
Both Dubreuil and Beck spoke of using Facebook to connect with other Santas and get tips on how to handle the tough questions or to find costume pieces.
Santa doesn’t just bring together our communities, he also draws close the performers who portray him.
