1^ James Mehsling/DN
Merry old men
Shopping center Santas spread holiday cheer
By Jeff Randall
Senior Reporter
Doctors may save lives, lawyers
may defend justice and teachers may
enlighten.
But for some men, an even more
difficult and important task awaits.
For approximately one month each
year, these noble men suit up for a
task that is envied by few but recog
nized by all.
These men are Santa Claus.
Everyone has seen them, and nearly
everyone has sat on one of their laps.
The shopping mall Santa Claus is an
American tradition that is carried on
nationwide each year by thousands of
red-suited, white-bearded individu
als and their helpers.
But Santa’s helpers don’t all wear
green suits and pointy shoes. Some of
them work in slightly less exotic at
tire.
Theresa Clarke is one of them. As
location manager for Santa Plus with
Gateway Mall, she is in charge of
recruiting, interviewing, hiring, han
dling payroll, coordinating schedules
and a doing a number of other tasks to
ensure that her fleet of Santas and
their visitors stay jolly.
Clarke said the hiring process for
Santa Claus candidates was more rig
orous than that for most part-time
jobs.
“Background checks have become
a big priority. We have to make sure
there is no criminal history of moles
tation, abuse or anything like that.”
“They’re asking for more and
more expensive things— CD
players, computers. It’s a lot
more expensive to be Santa
nowadays.”
DOUG MORRIS
Gateway santa
And beyond the safety concerns,
Clarke said, personality played a big
part in the final cut.
“The ideal Santa has to be jolly
and happy,” she said. “I tend to look
for guys who are very outgoing and
talkative.”
Following hiring, Clarke said, the
candidates have to go through the
Santa School, a 90-minute class that
gives prospective Santas a rundown
of the rules and practices of the job.
“The class gives them a basic list
of dos and don’ts, and most of the job
tends to be common sense. We all
know what a Santa should be like.”
Doug Morris is one of Gateway
Mali’s seven jolly old elves this year.
Morris has had the job for five straight
years and is one of four of the mall’s
returning Santas for the 1995 holiday
season.
Morris, whose own children are
still among the Santa faithful (“I just
tell them I’m one of his helpers”),
said he first got the job by answering
a newspaper advertisement,
“I really love kids, and this seemed
like a good job to take,” he said.
But not all children prove to be as
loving or cooperative as desired,
Morris said, particularly some of the
older ones.
“We get a lot of high school and
junior high school kids in on week
end nights who can cause problems.
They’ll do things like yell out that
you’re not real, or sit on you lap and
pull your beard down.
“It’s just one of the things you
have to deal with. It comes with the
job.”
The children who do still believe
in Santa, however, aren’t as unruly,
Morris said. Since he first took the job
in 1990, many children’s wishes have
changed.
“They ’re asking for more and more
expensive things—CD players, com
puters. It’s a lot more expensive to be
Santa nowadays.”
But Morris said some of his favor
ite Christmas wishes are the ones he
could never hope to fulfill, no matter
how much money he had.
“I’ve had kids who have asked for
peace and happiness in the world.
One child last year had a mother who
was sick, and he asked me to help her
get better.
“It’s things like that, they can break
your heart and at the same time make
the job worthwhile.”
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