LAST PAGE: Jeff Meteyer, 61
U of R IT manager and West Irondequoit resident has portrayed Santa Claus at private and public events each holiday season for eight years. He talks about his experience
By Mike Costanza
Q. You began playing Santa Claus at different gatherings and events eight years ago. Why did you take on the role?
A. It was a long-term desire since I was a kid to be a Santa. After having gone through a divorce in 2018, I thought it was the right time to branch out and become a Santa and be able to visit families and kids and spread the spirit of Christmas.
Q. When do you usually start, well, Ho, Ho, Hoing each year?
A. It starts as early as July, where I will do Christmas in July for organizations. Like I just had an organization that supports autism this past July at the Golisano Autism Center. I typically start photo events as early as Nov. 7th and I’ll work through Jan. 6th. We do somewhere between 35 and 40 events in the season. This year we’re almost averaging one event a day Thanksgiving through Christmas. Last year we saw roughly 10,000 children and parents.
Q. How do you feel when you walk into a room filled with kids?
A. It’s a source of energy. It’s a source of brightness. You just feel the energy, the dynamics of the engagement with one child, with a family. We’ve had as many as 800 kids in a single session, and to me, I just, I continuously feed off that energy.
Q. How do you interact with children at such events?
A. I have a Santa bench that I bring with me, kind of like a big love seat, and we sit across from each other if they’re comfortable sitting. We’ll go to their Christmas list. [I’ll] ask them about how their school year is going, if they’re of school age, or favorite teachers. Sometimes I’ll even ask them about what I got them last year, if they liked what we got them last year. Sometimes they’re not comfortable sitting, so what we’ll do, because we’re normally taking photographs, we’ll stage the children or the family on the bench and myself and my Mrs. Claus will stand behind the bench for photo opportunities. I hand out candy canes. If we are at an event where gifts are provided by the event organizer, I’ll hand out the gifts as well.
Q. You must run into times when kids are too excited or scared to really enjoy meeting Santa. How do you put them at their ease?
A. Part of it is I’m not a dynamic, bold Santa where I’m “Ho, Ho, Hoing” loudly at the child. I try not to frighten them with any bold moves or loud conversation. I typically will sit, and maybe even scrunch down a little bit on the love seat, to talk to the child. If the child has siblings with them, I may bring the siblings in the conversation, or I’ll bring Mom or Dad into the conversation or whoever the caregiver is and try to involve them so the child doesn’t interpret the focus being solely on them if that’s what’s making them nervous. Some have physical issues, and I try to read the audience, the child, prior to them coming to me so I can understand how I would approach the child.
Q. Do you have a natural beard?
A. It is. I start growing it in March. Part of the challenge with the Santa beard is you got to keep it as white as possible, as long as possible. Children will pick up on discoloration, children will pick up on false beards, children will pick up on false bellies. I have a real belly. Against my doctor’s wishes, but I have a real belly.
Q. Do you shake like a bowl of jelly when you laugh?
A. I’ll call it a small bowl of jelly.
To enjoy a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus (66-year-old Gemma Divine, Meteyer’s girlfriend) go to www.gigsalad.com and put “Santa Jeffrey and Mrs. Claus” in the search window.