Santa Claus: An exclusive interview

Santa is Santa, and the idea of revealing who’s inside his suit doesn’t sit well with the jolly old soul whose ho-ho-ho was heard at the Plaza Christmas tree lighting and last weekend’s Holiday Extravaganza at the Sebastiani Theatre, his home away from home when he’s not at the North Pole.

“The spirit and belief in Santa are really important. I don’t want to be known as Santa, I just want to be anonymous,” said the man who dons the red suit in Sonoma these days.

“I like to keep the mystery alive,” he said, stroking his beard with a twinkle in his eye, while sitting in his chair at the elaborately decorated Sebastiani. “That’s what’s special about it.”

In Sonoma, Dave “Lumpy” Williams filled Santa’s boots for more than 45 years, until he passed away in 2012. Today’s Santa was Lumpy’s close friend, and he’s sentimental about wearing the high-quality suit that was Williams’ prize possession. “I have a nice one of my own, but his is even nicer.” said the man following in Lumpy’s boot steps. “I even wear his boots. They are way to big for me, but I wear them anyway.”

“Lumpy was truly Sonoma’s Santa. I could never be that and I’m not trying to,” Santa said about the man who he’s know since the 1970s, often serving as his Santa’s helper. “I miss him.”

But he’s enjoying the experience of being Santa. “Being with the kids is the main thing,” Santa said. “They have their expectations and I want to live up to them.” He said the kids who hopped up on his lap earlier this month were asking for the traditional dolls and dump trucks, as well as more modern PlayStations, “And a lot of digital requests that I didn’t know what half of them were,” he laughed, but of course he’ll have them in his sack come Christmas Eve.

Some kids wish for problems to be solved, “or for things to be OK,” and those wishes can be harder to hear. He can only hope that a hug from Santa and a candy cane will be a happy moment away from woes.

“The love you get from it. The interaction with a child and giving joy to them in that particular moment, that’s the best part,” he said.

Santa enjoys being at the Sebastiani because it’s been very cold at the North Pole, “But I’m used to it. The elves are hard at work and the reindeer are eating hearty meals to have energy for the big trip. They love seeing all the boys and girls. And the grownups, too!”

Santa’s first time as the man in red was when he was in high school in Kansas, when he donned the white beard and tasseled cap at the school of his brother, who was 13 years younger.

Mrs. Diana Claus remembers driving him around in his Santa suit more than 40 years ago. “Even when he was in the car, he would never get out of character.” When they married and moved to Sonoma, he was Santa for their son, and later for their grandsons – who are now too old for it, but still believe in the magic of Christmas.

“I totally believe in Santa Claus, so when you get to spend time with him personally it’s an honor,” Mrs. Claus said.

Santa said that no one ever asks him who he is when he’s in his Santa suit – and that he never performs the magic tricks he’s known for when he’s Santa – always staying steadfastly in his adopted role.

“People might ask somebody else who I am,” he said, and he hopes no one tells, even if they suspect. “Children have to believe, and even as we get older, we still want to believe.”

Santa has a message he wants to share in the spirit of Christmas. “We all need to go out and spread a little love,” he said before he slipped behind the curtain on the Sebastiani stage, waiting until it’s time to jump on his sleigh with a “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”