Santa Went To School!

On July 29th and 30th Santa went to School? It is true. There are special schools for Santas and Santa Bob King resident of Camden, Tennessee recently attended a very special school in Southhaven, Mississippi and received his Bachelor degree in Santaclausology.

Hundreds of Santa’s and a few Mrs. Claus have begun their preparations for the 2017 Holiday Season by attending the two-day “School 4 Santas,” presented by the International University of Santa Clausä, IUSC. Over 3,500 have attended the school in the past fifteen years.

A Santa for four years, Santa Bob King learned there is more to being Santa, than just wearing a Red Suit and sitting in a chair. During the special two-day school, he learned a great deal about “The Business of Santa Claus.” Subjects covered included the day to day details of being Santa, plus the necessary elements of safety and today’s protocols of working with and handling children.

Santa Bob King is the owner of Santa of the Magic Valley, established on the holiday season of 2013. He serves the Middle Tennessee area around Benton, Henry, Carroll, Decatur, Perry, Humphreys, Houston, and Stewert counties. He is a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, MidSouthern Santa Society, Nashville /Middle Tennessee Santa Group, and the Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association. He became the first real-bearded Santa of the local Wal-Mart store in 2013. A lot of the customers really enjoyed their visit with him and were delighted with his authentic look. He was invited to visit other local businesses in the past few years, such as Churches, Restaurants, and Day Cares.

He appeared at the Camden Wal-Mart store once again in 2014 and 2015. He would have been happy to be there again for 2016, but he decided to go a different path to enhance and build his Santa business. He did appear at a Wal-Mart store in 2016, but it was all the way in Humboldt, Tennessee. The Camden store did not sign up for the “Selfies with Santa” program, in which he had been hired from an agent from American Events and Promotions by the name of Susen Mesco.

She began working a contract with Wal-Mart Corporation on a program called “Selfies with Santa”. She has done this to help Wal-Mart enhance their holiday programs by allowing Professional Santas to come into their stores and merrily greet their customers. Also, this helps the Santa community in finding more appearances to work at.

One question may be in your mind, why would anyone hire a Professional Santa Claus anyways. The key word is Professional. Anyone can don on a red Santa suit and fake beard or even whiten their own hair, but the professionals go to the extreme and they have the heart of Santa for the children.

They reinvest in their business to enhance their looks and performances. They spend more dollars as a matter of fact in hair care than the Mrs. does. Ho! Ho! Ho! Quite a few of the professionals even spend thousands on their suits, to get that complete authentic jolly look.

Sure, it’s ok to throw that suit on Uncle Joe, but will he wear his beard on crooked or worst yet pull it off and scare the children? I have seen some unprofessional Santas wear their white fur of their boots upside down to their ankles. I even seen one Santa wear his big black belt as a bra on his chest, not on what we professional Santas call a “cookie zone” (the waist).

There are quite a few real bearded Santas in the profession as well as the custom bearded Santas. The custom bearded Santas invest in designer wigs and beards, they look so real.

“Santa” Robert King and his wife at one time had the idea to raise real live reindeers in Benton County, we joined an association called ROBA, or Reindeer Owners and Breeders Association. This is a great group of hearty people that love these fascinating creatures of God. They have learned so much from the association, perhaps too much. They decided to not proceed with a reindeer farm, due to the extreme care these animals need to survive. So they keep in contact with the people still to learn more about the animals and to make connections if anyone would like to rent live reindeers to their holiday events.

Santa Bob King reports that this training was a very “in-depth” school covering not only the basics, but many other subjects.

“We learned a great deal including how to work with special needs children & families, the history of Santa Claus, proper grooming and appearance and how to maintain a proper Santa wardrobe.”

Other subjects covered at the school included making appearances at special events, entertainment & presentation styles, and the basic business aspects of being a Santa.

At the completion of the School some graduates receive a BSC, “Bachelor of Santa Claus” Diploma, others can earn a MSC, “Master of Santa Claus” Diploma, some earned an AMSC, “Advanced Master of Santa Claus and a Santa couple had received their PhDSC, Doctor of Santa Claus all conferring a degree in Santaclausology. And they instantly became members of the school’s alumni association, “The Red Suit Society.”

The school is presented by Santa Tim Connaghan, Chancellor of IUSC, who is celebrating his 45th year as a Santa. Santa Tim has appeared at thousands of events, on television shows including the Today Show, Deal or No Deal, the Hollywood Christmas Parade, Dr. Phil, the Tonight Show, and in advertising and commercials for such clients as Oreos, Sears, Target, J.C. Penney, HoneyBaked Ham, Planter’s, Ritz Crackers, Kraft, Old Navy, and the Hallmark Channel. He also operates the nation’s largest Santa employment agency, RealSantas.com, which has places as many as 700 Santas during one Holiday season.

School4Santas is presented by The International University of Santa Clausä and is the only Santa School that travels to different cities. Schools have also been presented in Canada, Europe and each year aboard a select Princess Cruise. Each summer hundreds of Santas attend these schools, which will visit 10 to 12 cities each year. Over 3,500 Santas and Mrs. Claus have attended the School and it is the largest annual Santa Training School in the World.