Placentia News Times/Orange County Register, Thursday, July 21, 2005
 
TIM CONNAGHAN coaches his pupils at the International University of Santa Claus in San Dimas.

 

Christmas in July

‘Santa Fred’ learns tips to help fill-in for St. Nick.

By SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN PLACENTIA NEWS-TIMES

    Fred Minter is Santa Claus year-round.
    His hair is bleached white. He washes his thick white beard every other day, and his mustache curls at the corners.
    His stomach jiggles when he laughs, and he wears a shirt covered in red chilies, his “red hot Santa” outfit. He gets “oohs” and “ahhs” from kids at the grocery store and has mothers asking him to entertain for holiday parties.
    “You have to be jolly all the time and interface with kids,” he said, “You can’t push them off even though you need room.”     Minter has changed a lot since he first started playing Santa four years ago.
    Then, he was a retired metallurgical engineer with a goatee, salt-and pepper hair and had little interest in children, estranged from his own sons.
    Now Minter, 66, is a member of the Amalgamated Order of Real-Bearded Santas, a group of men that have four things in common: They got old, they got gray, they got the red suit and they grew the beard to make some extra cash.
    Rates for Santa Clauses go from about $50 for Santas with cotton ball beards to about $200 for Santas with real beards.
    Minter is the only real-bearded Santa Claus in Placentia, out of a network of about 580 Santas across the United States. About 46 members live in Orange County.
    Southern California members met Saturday for the annual University of Santa Claus, a day when members learn how to entertain children, how to clean their suits and about the history of Saint Nick – and mostly, about their hair, how long to grow it and what bleach to use for the right color.
    “This is the only place where you hear a bunch of men talking about their hair and nails,” Minter said.
    But the most important lesson is how to stay in character, he added.

He had to cut his fee in half once when he pulled his car keys out of his Santa suit pocket to give his wife. The hostess was livid.

PLACENTIA RESIDENT ‘Santa Fred’ Minter takes

notes on the art of being Santa Claus.
    But Minter said he has never met a bad child during his Santa visits, “even though their parents can get pretty scary.”
    Minter grew up in Wyoming, then attended South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A series of jobs as a metallurgical engineer led him to Southern California. When he retired, at 62, he struggled to find a consultant post.
    He came across a newspaper article about the financial opportunities for Santa Claus impersonators during Christmas. He had just a goatee at the time, but friends said he reminded them of Father Christmas.
    He bought himself a Santa suit and custom shoes for about $1,600. The better the suit, Minter said, the more a Santa can charge for a house visit.
    Minter makes $200 for Christmas parties and programs and $125 for house visits. He visited about 15 families and events last year. He also played Santa for Hallmark promotions last year, making about $400 for those events.
“The seniors loved him,” said Pamela Walrod, spokeswoman for Placentia-Linda Hospital, which hired him for a senior dinner last Christmas. “He really did look like Santa.”
    It may have begun as a holiday gig, but Minter has realized that being St. Nick is more than a job. He has embraced the role 365 days a year.
    He attends Placentia Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce meetings and counts the days until Christmas.
    His living room wall holds a wreath made of natural spices. He has a collection of Santa figurines. Wooden letters spell “ho ho ho” on his mantle, next to a plastic Christmas tree.
    “Well, it’s more that we haven’t taken it down” he said.
    He has also begun acting in community plays to improve his ability to stay in character.
    But Minter is still getting used to the attention he receives out in public.
    “I have to nudge him a few times to remind him while people are honking at him in his car,” said his wife, Elizabeth Minter, who sometimes plays Mrs. Claus.
    “In restaurants, he can’t go without children, sometimes even parents, coming by to talk to him. He has a lot of experience working with adults. This has been his first experience working with children.”
    Minter says his goals for next year include increasing his clientele and auditioning for more commercials.
    He sees himself playing Santa for many more years, maybe into his 90s.
    “Until I’m old and feeble and can’t hold a child on my knee, that’s when I’ll quit being Santa Claus,” he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SANTA CLAUS TIPS
Jolly ol’ guys attending University of Santa Claus class Saturday offered a few suggestions for top-notch ho-ho-ho performances:

  • If two Santas are in the same room, tell kids that there is a Santa brotherhood and they all help each other deliver toys.

  • Keep your hands visible in pictures at all times so you don’t get sued for inappropriate behavior with the kids.

  • When reading a story to children, it might be hard to turn pages with Santa gloves.

  • Make sure your nails are manicured it you take the gloves off.

  • If a baby is afraid of Santa and won’t pose for a picture, have the mother stand between Santa Claus and the child.

  • When dry cleaning your Santa suit, give the cleaner instructions that your clothing has to be the first in the load.