Santa Dan Santa Claus from Grand Blanc, MI

The idea of playing Santa started about ten years ago when my wife forgot to remind me of my hair and beard appointment. I did not get around to making an appointment for a couple of months. I liked the way my beard was growing out so I decided not to have my beard trimmed for a year. I started to notice the children. They would get excited when they would notice me. Sometimes after I had let my beard grow for about 8 months, they would ask me if I was Santa. From this, I decided to get a santa hat, let my beard grow out to hand out candy canes whenever I was in stores or other public places between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My first opportunity to wear the suit was when I was asked to be Santa for a retirement community in Arlington, Virginia in 2011 and 2012. The place was called the Jefferson. I just graduated from Charles W. Howard Santa School in Midland. This was their 82 year. I volunteered at the church we were going to in Fairfax, Virginia from 2012 to 2016 as a Sunday school teacher for the two year olds. I now volunteer at the River Church here in Holly. I have been a teacher for the second graders for the last two and half years. I worked as mechanical engineer for 40 years designing HVAC systems for mission critical spaces.