In the nature of the way kid’s birthday parties work you almost always are a one-shot affair for that one party only as kids, both because of age and tastes, usually change who their favorite character is. In regards to the age factor, you know you’re going to have the little kid characters asked for such as the purple dinosaur, the red monster or that big yellow bird from Sesame Street, a very famous yellow teddy bear that loves honey to an obsession or perhaps one of his furry pals. Those characters aren’t the only ones of course, but they are part of my character repertoire. There are always hot-at-the-moment characters from current TV shows or movies that have what you would call a limited performance lifespans; fame is fickle you know and that goes for live-action and cartoon characters as well. Some come and go quickly, while others have moderate staying power and some really hang in there.

There are also the characters that carry over from year to year and “crossover” from the little kid set, two, three, four-year old parties and are what you might say classic and never going out of style. Hunny Bear and his friends are a perfect example of this as is Scooby Doo. In fact, for them in particular, they’re never grown out of in so many cases. As I related in my story of the camera stolen at her boy’s birthday party, mom was as big a fan or bigger of the lovable Great Dane than was her son even though it had been his wish and want to have him to come to his party.

It has happened to me, as it’s happened to most character performers that do this year-after-year-after-year that, on occasion, you might ‘get lucky” and get requested again for a repeat performance the next year as the same character, or possibly, if you do multiple characters like I do, a different character than the one you did. But there are two characters that are virtually timeless for all, that one never grows too old for if you believe; Santa and the Easter Bunny. For this little furry tale, I want to share with you a sixteen year family relationship Santa had.

In April of 1993 I moved up to the San Gabriel Valley in the Los Angeles area to better my year-round character work. I had previously been living in San Diego County from my humble start of doing them back in the 1986 Christmas season. But because of my newness there and the long-standing relationship with a performing couple that I had down in San Diego, I opted to do go back down there and help out a couple of times.

I had a seven am gig down there on Christmas Day and then had a gig scheduled in Hacienda Heights back up in the San Gabriel valley at three o'clock.

That gig was a two family Christmas gathering at a “Coco’s” restaurant, but when some cousins were added to the two large families I ended up with a number of thirty kids!

A couple of adults were watching for Santa out in the parking lot so they could help him put all of the needed toys and gifts into his bag. With good humor and not saying anything out loud Santa definitely felt much like a pack mule. But with some help from those two adults, all the toys were somehow carried in and the party was marvelous, a ten out of ten experience for all including Santa.

Well, it turns out the two families are blood related and that first party turned into a mini career within a career. One family only did a Christmas party every other year, but the other one did one every year. For the years of the other family having their parties Santa would visit both families. To note, they both did Christmas Day parties, but the family that did the every other year rotation had theirs in the late afternoon, like three o’clock or thereabouts while the every year family always had theirs at seven in the evening.

Those large families and wide variety of ages in the kids are what gave me my career here. As the older ones “lost interest” I still had many, many young ones who still eagerly awaited Santa’s Christmas Day or Christmas Night visit. Truly and no lie, I became a tradition in and at both houses. Though just to simply note it, I never did have another restaurant party from them other than that one where I met them all. But of the two families, the one that I did every year at seven pm became ever so close to me and me to them; even to the point of Santa doing a few extra things to make the special even more special.

Not too long after our visit tradition began, one of the then little girls at the time showed Santa what she had made in school, a macaroni picture book with color pictures she drew and colored in. It was a cow variation of “The Night Before Christmas”. Santa loved it as Santa does like cows and he happily read it out loud to all. It became a tradition within a tradition and would be brought out and reread for several years after that first reading as well. Well, Santa is all about gifts right? And always, if it’s at all possible, gifts that will be considered so very special to whom they are given. So Santa gets the brainstorm of what to add to his delivery next year, specially made cow Christmas stockings! He has his elves make up five stockings using both black and white and brown and white cow print fake fur for the stocking bodies and then some very nice medium plush white fur for the stocking cuffs. Come the next Christmas they were a hit! Santa delivered them on his Christmas Eve rounds and they were happily brought out in hand to show him when he came back on Christmas Night.

Then, not the next year, but a couple of years later, Santa again made a “special delivery” while on his Christmas Eve rounds and left a real wicker basket filled with stuffed-toy plush puppies for each of the kids on their front porch. Santa happened to come by while the family was away and Santa thought that this little “accident”, would actually end up working to his advantage. Imagine the happy and surprised faces when they see a basket full of puppies on their doorstep when they come back from wherever they’ve been! They do not see him, but just as Santa’s leaving in his sleigh, here comes the family in their car up the street! Santa’s imagining what happening as he rides along continuing his deliveries.

Like what happened with the cow stockings, the plush puppies are held in hand by each of the kids when they come to greet Santa the next night, Christmas Night, and they’re never let go of for the entire time of his one hour visit. Dad takes many pictures that night, just as he always did every year, but one he tells Santa later when they talk outside for a few moments after his visit is done but before he’s yet to go, was truly the perfect “Kodak moment”. He said he will treasure that picture for the rest of his life. Santa’s sitting in the chair they always gave him to sit in, the two youngest girls are half-sitting on his lap and the respective arms of the chair, plush puppies in hand and the two older kids are sitting on the floor right at his feet, also with their puppies in hand listening to Santa read “The Night before Christmas” to them.

“Santa, really, that is what it’s all about. Tonight was perfection, pure perfection. I don’t think we can ever top that or tonight, thank you.” Dad says.
“I do agree, but we can always try…after all I AM Santa. See you next year…Merry Christmas!” Santa replies and then he starts walking back to his sleigh which is parked just down the road a bit.

Semper Furry! --Me Furry