San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A NEW KIND OF SANTA SIGHTING
Whether curbside or virtual, St. Nick makes the rounds
Charles Jennings has played the part of Santa Claus since he was 19 years old.
This year he’ll be hohohoing from home as pandemic restrictions have forced him online with his new business, Virtual Santa Claus Visits.
Jennings knew this holiday season would be different, given pandemic restrictions. But he never imagined that this would be the year he’d had to have “the talk” with his 8yearold son, Winston.
“Winston knows that I ‘ work for Santa,’ ” says Jennings, who lives in San Francisco. “But the pandemic was not the way I wanted to eventually have this conversation with my son about what I do.”
Jennings plans to explain to his son that because of the pandemic, he’s working as one of Santa’s representatives this year. He also plans to include his son in a special way in the family business, whose virtualvisit packages start at $ 69 for a fiveminute personalized call.
“After riding the Polar Express train in Sacramento last year, Winston told me he really wants to be one of Santa’s elves one day,” Jennings says. “I got him a set of red overalls, a hat and I have the ears already; he’s going to occasionally appear on camera with me during calls, handing me my list or bringing me cocoa. How cool is that? When the kids see that Santa even has his own elf, they’re going to freak out.”
With the pandemic canceling many of our usual holiday activities, some parents are still trying to hold onto the traditional visit to Santa for their children, with a 2020 twist. But how are parents framing the discussion about masked, social distanced and online Santa visits without heightening fears around the pandemic or losing the holiday magic? Even if they only play Santa metaphorically, it’s a delicate dance for many.
New parents Nisha Carcasole and her husband, Justin Carcasole, also decided to take Santa online this year with their business Live Calls With Santa when they realized inperson visits wouldn’t be possible for many people in Toronto, where they are based. But it wasn’t just the pandemic that inspired this innovation: As the parent of an 8monthold, Nisha Carcasole knows it can be a gamble whether a child takes to sitting on Santa’s lap without a fit.
“Having them in their home ( puts) them in a comfortable, safe space,” says Carcasole. So far, she says, Live Calls With Santa has probably seen far fewer crying children than your average mall Santa because of the athome setup. Among the ways the service seeks to put kids at ease is a presession questionnaire for
parents that asks things like the pronunciation of the child’s name, whether a letter to Santa has already been mailed and questions related to the child’s understanding of the pandemic. Jennings also utilizes a questionnaire for Virtual Santa Claus Visits.
“We’ve already seen questions from kids about the pandemic,” Carcasole says. “They talk about distance learning. One kid asked Santa if he will wear a mask when he comes to the house, will it be safe? Yes, Santa is talking to you from the North Pole to stay safe. He has masks, gloves, hand sanitizers. Santa is protected by magic.”
Sonya Jain of San Francisco used the service to introduce her 8monthold daughter to Santa this year and says it’s a pandemic twist on the tradition that she could see surviving beyond the virus.
“This is a really abnormal year she was born into,” says Jain of her daughter. “I’ve been making a memory box of all the things that are unusual about 2020. I liked that with this I could buy a video of my child’s visit with Santa that she can watch years later. It’s the kind of thing I’d imagine other parents might want even when there isn’t a pandemic.”
Live Calls With Santa packages start at $ 19.95 for a fiveminute call and go up to $ 49.95 for the platinum package, which includes a conversation, storytime and an edited highlight reel of the child’s visit.
For Cheryl Lee, the mother of two sons, ages 5 and 2, Christmas this year is all about keeping an open dialogue with her older son about the changes this holiday season.
“I told him a lot of things aren’t possible because of the sickness,” says Lee. “I said we shouldn’t be around a lot of people. If you go to the mall for Santa pictures there’s tons of people around and that’s not safe. He’s seen his brother, who was born with a congenital heart defect, hospitalized from viruses, so this actually isn’t a new discussion
“One kid asked Santa if he will wear a mask when he comes to the house, will it be safe?”
Nisha Carcasole , Live Calls With Santa
in our house.”
Actually, Lee’s sons have already had a visit from Santa this year. As part of Neiman Marcus’ curbside Santa experience, the jolly one made a visit to the boys in November. Saint Nick used a ridehailing app instead of his sleigh to visit the family’s home and had a short, masked visit with them outside.
Kari Miller, the West Coast regional brand experience director for Neiman Marcus, says the store’s curbside Santa experience is a way to bring Santa safely to customers even with pandemic restrictions.
“For many families, seeing Santa is such an important part of holiday tradition,” Miller says. “As we started to think about what it might look like this year in markets more restricted like California, we asked what would be the safe, socially distant way to create that magic?”
In addition to making athome deliveries for some clients, curbside Santa will be in front of the Union Square Neiman Marcus every Saturday from noon to 6 p. m. through Christmas, and roaming the store for socially distant visits and selfies. Clients utilizing the store’s curbside pickup can request a visit with Santa, but the program is otherwise open to all regardless of whether they make a purchase.
For a family like Lee’s, who already have concerns about health and safety, their visit with Santa struck the perfect balance between cautious and childfriendly.
“It was all done from 6 feet away and very careful,” Lee says. “I told my older son, ‘ We want to keep Santa safe and us safe. Keep your masks on, kids.’ Santa had a red mask on, too.”