Kent’s longtime Santa says farewell

After 24 years of spreading joy and good will in Kent, Santa’s ready to retire.

Don’t worry, the real Santa’s still on the job. It’s Kent’s version of Kris Kringle, otherwise known as Don Vandel, who has said he’s hanging up his tailor-made red suit after this Christmas.

For one more season, though, Kent residents and visitors will find their longtime local Santa by the Morford Family Carousel, during carousel hours, starting Saturday.

“Retirement” from Santa-hood will be a major adjustment for the 72-year-old, who for years now has grown a full white beard solely to make himself an authentic Santa for the Christmas season.

“I’ll miss it,” Vandel said of playing Santa Claus. “For the first couple years that I’m not doing it. I’m going to go somewhere else. Somewhere warm.”

A favor for a friend

Vandel started his Yuletide career in 1985, when his friend Sid Cook, owner of what was then Sid’s EZ Eatin’ Café, asked him to play the part for Sid’s company Christmas party.

“I said, ‘sure,'” Vandel said. When Vandel arrived at the party in his rented suit, Sid had gifts ready for Santa to give out to all the children at the party. “From then, it just bloomed,” Vandel said.

For the first couple years, Vandel accepted both paid and volunteer jobs as Santa. He still can remember the day he decided to make his labor a free service only.

It was the day he played Santa at an Auburn High School Christmas program for children with disabilities. A little girl with spina bifida had scooted across the floor for the chance to sit on Santa’s lap, and a little blind boy had felt his face so he could “see” what Santa looked like. Just by being there, Vandel realized Santa was fulfilling wishes.

That evening, he went to play Santa as a paid gig at the home of a well-to-do family. There, the children were more interested in the stacks of presents waiting for them than they were in meeting Santa. The job paid well, but it left a bad taste in Vandel’s mouth.

“It just didn’t fit right,” he said. “From that day, it was all charity work.”

That means all the hours he’s spent sitting and listening to children, and asking for donations for local charities. All the coloring books he and Mrs. Claus have given out (500 to 600 a year for a while). All the bicycles they made sure found their way to a needy child. All for free. Because, after all, that’s what Santa Claus does — he gives, and asks for nothing in return. (Except maybe some cookies and milk.)

Lessons from the little ones

Vandel has learned a lot from walking in the footsteps of St. Nicholas. One vital lesson is the importance of honesty. “Never tell a kid a lie,” Vandel said emphatically.

Even when children pose hard questions like “how do the reindeer fly?,” Vandel said he’s careful not to lie. “That’s the magic of Santa Claus,” is his standard answer for all things inexplicable, he said, adding that “they seem to be satisfied with that.”

Another lesson the Santa gig has taught Vandel is the value of humility. Each year, hundreds of little children confide their deepest wishes to him. Sometimes they’re selfish. Sometimes they’re sweet. Sometimes they’re heartbreaking.

The heartbreaking stories came most easily to Vandel’s mind as he sat for an interview at Maggie’s on Meeker last month. Stories about all the children – far too many – who tell Santa that “Mommy and Daddy are fighting.”

“I tell them, ‘it’s not your fault,'” he said.

Or the time a little girl confided in Mrs. Claus that her baby brother, Brandon, was in heaven. “Daddy was wrestling with Mommy, and Brandon went to heaven,” the girl said. Vandel learned later that the girl’s father was in prison for beating the girl’s mother and causing a miscarriage. Just retelling the story brings tears to his eyes.

“It all humbles me,” Vandel said of his glimpses into other people’s lives.

One last year

This Christmas season, Vandel and his wife still will reign as Santa and the Missus in downtown. They’re doing things a little differently for their last year, though.

For starters, they won’t have a professional photographer working with them. Instead, families can bring their own cameras and take as many free photos as they like with Santa Claus. Vandel just asks that people who visit him bring a donation for either the Kent Food Bank or the Pediatric Interim Care Center.

(Note that pets are welcome to get their pictures taken with Santa, too. Owners must be on a leash.)

Santa won’t be giving out coloring books as in past years, either. This year, he’ll give out 500 free rides on the carousel, instead. He and Mrs. Claus also will give away 24 bicycles in honor of his 24 years as Santa, via a daily raffle starting Dec. 10.

Tickets for Santa’s bicycle raffle are available at the Morford Family Carousel, as well as at three downtown merchants: Chair & Trellis, 321 W. Smith St.; Maggie’s on Meeker, 307 W. Meeker St.; and Sara’s Coffee Shop, 212 Central Ave. N.

End of an era

Vandel decided this would be his last year after an incident recently that brought home to him what he termed the “political correctness” of the times.

“There was a little girl with a real flouncy dress, probably 3 or 4 years old. I picked her up and I sat her on my lap, (and) I slid that dress down and put my hand on her hip to help hold her dress down,” he said. It was the sort of thing Vandel, who has five granddaughters, did without a second thought.

Afterward, the photographer working with Vandel told him that a man had come up and asked, “Does he always handle little kids like that?”

“After that, I really started paying attention to how I handle the little kids. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling when you can’t be relaxed (as Santa Claus),” Vandel said.

Vandel also pointed out that Kent Station now has its own Santa. “I don’t think Kent needs two Santa Clauses,” he said.

Still, he admitted, he’s going to miss it.

Contact staff writer Christine Shultz at 253-872-6600, ext. 5056, or cshultz@reporternewspapers.com.

SIDEBAR/BOX

Meet Santa

When: Dec. 6-29.

Where: By the Morford Family Carousel, Town Square Plaza.

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Fridays, noon-9 p.m. Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Sundays and 4-9 p.m. Mondays.

Photos: Free photos, bring your own camera. Donations welcome for food bank and PICC.

Bike raffle: Dec. 10-22. Tickets available at Chair & Trellis, Maggie’s on Meekr, Sara’s Coffee Shop and at the carousel.