feature 24
the
gateway
www.thegatewayonline.ca
December 7, 2011
Being Santa by Andrew Jeffrey and Ryan Bromsgrove
Photos by AmirAli Sharifi
H
oliday gift choices have changed throughout the years. While the objects of desire for kids used to be Hot Wheels and Barbies, those have given way to myriad electronic devices and sometimes even more mundane household items. But through it all, the man in the red suit is there. Or rather, many men in many red suits are hearing children’s wishes in malls across Edmonton. Francis Dryden has taken on the role of being Santa for the past five years, rotating through each of Edmonton’s malls, and he’s seen the evolving face of Christmas gift wishes. “They all want iPhones (and) iPod Touches, but you’ve got to back up on that stuff — you don’t know how a family is. So I usually go talk to the family to see. I don’t promise a kid anything like that,” Dryden said. “There was a little guy the other day and I asked him what he wants. He said ‘a shower head and a sump pump, Santa.’ I asked if he’d even know what to do with them. You’ve got to love stuff
like that.” As the stress to please youngsters ratchets up with more expensive gifts on the market, there’s less time for people to relax and enjoy the holiday, making it easy to be cynical about what the season has turned into. But Dryden’s role is one thing that has remained a consistent and important part of Christmas for years. The veteran Santa will see as many as 500 kids each day at Southgate Mall. But he’s not about to complain about the “deluge” of kids. He loves the interactions he has with children and adults in his job and has always been
conscious of entertaining children. “(Being Santa) gives me that same pleasure that the music gave me for all those years,” Dryden, a former drummer, explains. “There’s a nice feeling to it. I guess once you’re in show business, you’re always in show business. It’s fun. I like talking to the kids. Some of things that they get into are worth a lot of months of work just to find one of those moments.” The impact of one of those moments on both the Santa and the child can be a draw for new Santas. Crystal Hanson has seen the joy firsthand through her business, Alberta Creative Event and Entertainment Services. Hanson runs ACES by herself, booking entertainment and planning special events like charity events or grand openings year round. But the Christmas season is her busiest time of year when she hires Santas for Londonderry and Capilano Mall in Edmonton and Westland Market Mall in Spruce Grove, mostly through word of mouth and references. Other methods like starting a “Santa school” aren’t feasible for Hanson and ads in newspapers often don’t produce the best results. “The times I have put ads in the paper, I get a
lot of interesting calls. I was told by a newspaper when I was putting an ad in that you can’t be gender-specific. I said, ‘But I need a Santa Claus.’ She said, ‘Yeah but you’re going to get in trouble, you can’t say that you’re looking for a man.’ So I had a woman call me and say ‘I’d like to be considered for Santa.’ I said, ‘Well that’s just not going to go over at all. Who’s going to believe that you’re Santa Claus?’ ” Hanson has been running ACES on her own for the last eight years, when she purchased the business from a former co-worker who wanted to move on. Hanson uses it as additional income besides her teaching job, but being Santa‘s agent can be a full-time job this time of year. “I’m responsible for finding (Santas). I do the hiring, the checks and the interviewing. Then the mall hires me. They trust that I’m going to put the right guy in their mall and someone that is appropriate for the type of location,” Hanson explains. “I work with a handful of (Santas) that are really responsible and reliable and committed but there are a few requirements like they have to go through a criminal records check.”