An Exclusive Interview with Santino ‘Santa’ Claus
By Desiree Leader | Observer Contributor
In an exclusive interview on November 27th, Santa Claus himself took time out of his busy schedule to speak with a reporter from the Observer. This is what he had to say:
Q: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I’ve always been a huge Santa fan. How did you come to be in this position?
Well, it’s a family job. A lot of people don’t understand that, but Santa was my father, my grandfather, and my great grandfather. It goes back to the 1500’s, [and] I will pass it on to my son at some point when I’m too old to be Santa.
Q: So you and Mrs. Claus do have children?
Yes, we do. My oldest son is Santino, and we have my daughter Holly, and then there’s Ivy. She’s the baby, she’s 22 now. We were gonna name Ivy ‘Candy,’ but we figured that was just a little too much–Candy Claus.
Q: Is your real name ‘Santa’?
I am Santino, actually. A lot of people don’t know this, but we’re part Italian. We kind of shortened it to “Santa” to make it a little less ethnic.
Q: So what happens if Santino, your son, doesn’t want to carry on the legacy?
Bite your tongue!
Q: He has no choice?
We’ve raised him to take over the reins, but if he decides he can’t, then it goes to Holly, and Holly will be Santa.
Q: Has there ever been a female Santa Claus before?
No, but it’s just because that’s how it’s always been done. There’s no rules, just so you know. You gotta be big and strong, but you should see Holly. She’s built like a linebacker.
Q: Tell me about your life in the North Pole.
Oh, boy, things are really busy. The elves are always coming to us with questions like, “How do we build this? Where do we put that? Then we got the people that are monitoring the nice and naughty lists. I know a lot of people think we do it ourselves, but there’s a lot of kids out there. We haven’t outsourced it, but we got a special spot for the tracker elves. They keep track of who’s naughty and nice and give me updates as I need them.
Q: Updates?
Sometimes there needs to be an intervention with some of the kids that might be a little too naughty. That’s where the elves on the shelves come in.
Q: How many elves do you have?
If I had to do an inventory…there’s probably about 1,000 now.
Q: Do you pay them? Or just let them live there?
Well now, this is gonna get me in trouble with the labor board, but it’s a labor of love for them. They get room and board, and it’s a nice little community up here.
Q: How do you decide how naughty is TOO naughty?
It’s kind of a bell curve thing. We kind of compare it to everybody else for the year. You’ll probably print this, but it’s the truth – we’re fairly liberal when it comes to the scoring.
Q: How long have you and Mrs. Claus been married?
Ho, ho, I better get this right, or Mrs. Claus is gonna be really mad at me, and I don’t want to get locked out of the house up here! We’ve been married 45 years.
Q: How did you guys meet?
Well, I was in Maryland with my parents while they were taking their vacation, and we actually met in Ocean City. There’s some sort of arcade and we were playing games and stuff. Pacman… nobody plays Pacman any more.
Q: So did she know who you were?
Well, no, you can’t really tell people who you are, you know. It’s kind of gotta be a little bit of a secret. We don’t go around dressed in red all the time, so no, she didn’t know. I told her after we started dating. Let her know what was going on.
Q: Do you have any other reindeer besides the famous 9?
Oh, yeah, we have a whole other team that’s a back up, just in case. Let’s see if I can remember the names…we got Benny. That’s Rudolf’s brother. He also glows, if we need it. I’d have to check on the other names, we don’t use them a lot.
Q: Is Rudolph still the lead reindeer for the main team?
Yes, since we figured out that he had that glowing nose, and it really came in handy that night that it was really foggy. That was the first time we had fog conditions…Until now, with global warming, there’s fog everywhere.
Q: How long does it take you to deliver presents?
That’s the magic of Santa: we have the ability to get everything done in what appears to be a 12 hour period. But obviously we are able to go a lot faster and slow down time just a bit. That’s why we want everybody to be asleep, so they don’t see how slow the clocks are going.
Q: Very cool! How long does it take you to recover from Christmas Eve? That’s a long night, and all that time building up to it!
We work 9 months out of the year, and we take 3 months to decompress. We spend some time in Maryland. They still got some snow and ice, so it makes us feel like we’re at home, just not quite as cold. Sometimes we go further south and go to Disney World. Of course, we go incognito. I can’t go around Christmastime – too many fake Santas. Well, “helpers.”
Q: How do you feel about the “helpers?”
If they have real beards and the spirit, I’m perfectly fine. Not real happy with the ones that just sit there like they’re a prop for a picture. I want to see some joy! Some happiness! That’s what Santa’s all about.
Q: How do you spend Christmas day?
Sleeping! I sleep for 8 days straight. After that we are up and at ‘em and down in Maryland around New Year’s.
Q: What’s your favorite cookie?
I know people think it’s chocolate chip, but I’d rather have oatmeal raisin! And one thing kids don’t seem to know is that they should leave treats for the reindeer, as well. Some nice carrots or celery.
Q: Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me, Santa.
It’s been a pleasure! Ho, ho, ho, and Merry Christmas!
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