Stephen
(or Steve as his friends call him) is Santa. He first portrayed Santa in 2004 for UNC Children’s Hospital and has been hooked ever since. Prior to Santa, Steve served as a BSA Scoutmaster and it was during that time he perfected his art of storytelling. Steve skillfully painted vivid mental pictures for the boy scouts while they listened to ‘toe curling’ ghost stories around the campfire. The proof is in the detail as he loves to say.
When he became Santa, he needed new stories to provide the children with mental pictures of the North Pole and how he – Santa – lived and worked. Questions raised by elementary children were answered in earnest and his imagination knows no limits. The stories flowed to answer questions and in turn props were created to further authenticate the stories and give visual proof that yes, he is Santa.
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Steve loves to share his ideas with others- knowing he can only see a limited number of children during his Santa career. He hopes that his ideas will enhance the Santa experience for many more children. He wrote his first book...
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Santaology
The Art of Becoming a Great Santa Claus!
in 2016. It was a limited edition and has been sold out for the last 2 years. He is currently working on his second book with no projected
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date of printing, yet. He is planning on revisiting some of the information in the first book for those that need updated information. Steve was inducted into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame in 2017 and into the Knights of St. Nicholas in 2020. He was thrilled by both but is especially excited that he now gets to have a big sword (HAHAHA).
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Debra
In her previous life, she was a pediatric nurse – for over 35 years.
Initially, she planned to be a Mrs. Claus to Steve’s Santa. But, she knew that their Santa experience would be better served in another capacity after only one event and “the driver” was born.
Being “the driver” allowed her to blend into the crowd and feed information about the children, secretly without attracting the children’s attention. Doing this enabled Steve’s Santa to know everything about the children without anyone outwardly telling Santa anything. This technique became known by their clients as “Smart Santa” and, once experienced, is an always requested service.
Steve and Deb became one of their areas most requested Santa Claus, and while Steve had the stories, Deb had the intuition. Smart Santa appears magical to the families, but in reality, the magic was Deb’s uncanny ability to read children and know the right thing to say into Santa’s ear. Of course, this made Santa look like one of the most sensitive, intelligent, caring, and compassionate men ever to come along. But in truth, it was 90% Debra and Steve’s uncanny ability to make his mind go blank and open. Together they are quite the team.
Teaching Experience
Virgina Santa Gathering,*
Celebrate Santa - Gatlinburg*
Santa Family Reunion - Gatlinburg*
Discover Santa - Branson*
CWH school
Brothers Claus
Long Leaf Pines*
Palm Tree Santas
FORBS of San Diego
Lonestar Santas - Texas*
NESS Santas - Virtual
*Denotes teaching as a couple
