Santas Go to School

For most of us, school is out for the summer but on Sunday in Bloomington, Minn. class was in session for a unique group of students. It’s a course that takes dedication, skill, and a lot of facial hair. It’s a very rare breed or shall we say beard attending the International University of Santa Claus. You need much more than the ‘right look’ to be St. Nick. Santas from all over the Upper Midwest attend school to refine their skills. “Sometimes you have a little child in your lap you might say ho, ho, ho. But other times hundreds of people around you so it’s ho, ho, ho,” described the instructor with an emphasis on the last “ho, ho, ho”. Most of the students are members of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas and it’s not just the beard that makes a Santa. “Santa is also robust, is that real too?” asked Maya Nishikawa. “It’s all absolutely real,” said one bearded Santa. These Santas learn everything from marketing to engaging storytelling. Each Santa has a style of his own. A big challenge for these Santas is keeping St. Nick up to date. “There’s always new ideas, new ways of making children laugh,” said another bearded Santa attending class. And of course, there’s always how to deal with those not so nice kids. There are about 1,300 members of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas. Some do it for charity while others make it almost a year-round occupation. This article was written by Maya Nishikawa of WCCO.com

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