Mall of America’s first black Santa charms
Santa Larry says skin tone doesn’t matter, kids are there for the suit and candy
MINNEAPOLIS — Dozens of Santas cycle through Twin Cities shopping centers each year, spreading joy to children who entrust them with their holiday wish lists. What has been missing from that experience, some parents say, was a Kriss Kringle who represented a wider swath of believers.
This week, for the first time in the Mall of America’s 24-year history, a black Santa will greet families for annual Christmas photos.
“This is a long time coming,” said Landon Luther, co-owner of the Santa Experience, which has run the intimate photo studio at the mall for 10 years. “We want Santa to be for everyone, period.”
The mall offers a free, wait-inline-with-the-masses Santa, as well as the book-an-appointment Santa Experience, which this year added a second location at the Bloomington megamall. The appointments require purchase of a photo package.
Luther started a national search last spring for a diverse St. Nicholas that kids of color would be able to relate to.
Santa Sid, a 20-year veteran at MOA, finally found one while at a Santa convention in Branson, Mo., where nearly 1,000 impersonators convened for a “Kringle family reunion” in July.
Larry Jefferson, a retired U.S. Army veteran from Irving, Texas, was the only black Santa Claus in attendance. The jovial actor agreed to sign a four-day contract to work in Minnesota, after which he’ll return home to work the seasonal circuit in Dallas.
“It was like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Luther, who runs the business with his girlfriend, Rachael Zuleger. “He considers himself a Santa for all.”
This weekend, by appointment only, Jefferson will greet kiddos at the mall while decked as Santa Larry, passing out candy canes and reminding them how to stay off the naughty list: “Clean your rooms, eat your vegetables and do what your mommy and daddy say all year.”
As he prepared for his first appointments Thursday morning, Jefferson said that skin tone doesn’t matter to the kids he meets.
“What they see most of the time is this red suit and candy,” he said, patting his sleek velvet coat. “(Santa represents) a good spirit. I’m just a messenger to bring hope, love and peace to girls and boys.”
Shelly Major, of Blaine, toted her three children to the photo studio for their few minutes with Jolly ol’ St. Nick.
“He was very warm,” Major said.