My dad is a professional Santa (shh! My kids don't know!)

No one who knows my dad, Mack Thorpe, would be surprised to know that he is now a professional Santa in his retirement. Well, there are a few people who would be surprised to know he moonlights as Kris Kringle in December...his grandchildren. They have no idea, and Grandaddy wants it to stay that way.

Posted 11:30 a.m. Dec 20, 2021 — Updated 3:11 p.m. Dec 20, 2021

Amy Davis

, WRAL contributor

RALEIGH, N.C. — I will always be forever grateful to my parents for making the Christmases of my childhood so idyllic and amazing. My mom and dad made sure each year was full of family fun and traditions. My dad loves Christmas more than anyone and made things magical when it came to Santa Claus. Somehow on Christmas Eve, we would hear sleigh bells down the street or reindeer on the roof. I’m 40 years old and to this day, I have no idea how he pulled that off. I don’t want to know. I want it to remain magical in my memories.

No one who knows my dad, Mack Thorpe, would be surprised to know that he is now a professional Santa in his retirement. Well, there are a few people who would be surprised to know he moonlights as Kris Kringle in December…his grandchildren. They have no idea, and Grandaddy wants it to stay that way.

Getting Started as Santa

At age 67, Dad works each holiday season at locations around the Triangle to hear the wishes of local children. He came to be Santa naturally after some trial and error many years ago. He started growing his beard back in the seventies. I heard that’s the kind of thing they did back then. He liked it and kept it. This led to a fun job as a college student working for a shopping center in his hometown, Wilmington. He laughed and recalled, “We dyed my beard and I was an ugly looking Santa Claus.”

Left: My grandfather, Linwood Thorpe with my Dad wearing a fake Santa beard in 1975. (Amy Davis)

Turns out, when you have the spirit of the big guy, you might start looking like him. He says of the passing decades, “I’ve had a beard for many, many years and it turned white, naturally. I love little children, particularly my grandchildren. I’m kind of robust. I have a white beard. It fits.” I laughed at “robust.”

Dad’s Santa gigs started serendipitously at the home decor store he and his wife own in downtown Apex. “I wore a red baseball cap with a Santa hat on it and kids would run up to me and call me Santa when I was at The Rusty Bucket.” It was a holiday fair of local businesses at Chapel Hill’s famous Carolina Inn that led to his life as a professional Santa. The Inn’s manager hired him as their Santa.

Four years, online Claus courses, and one designer suit later, you can find him headlining the popular Brunch with Santa at The Carolina Inn. It doesn’t end there. Dad’s December gets booked up quick with all kinds of holiday events. “From that experience, I’ve gotten private gigs in homes, I was at the American Legion Dinner with veterans.” He enjoys the chance to give back to the community as well. “I don’t charge for veterans, cancer patients or the elderly,” he explains.

Certified Kringle

You can be as qualified as my dad to become Santa, and you still need some lessons in being jolly. He enrolled in online courses at the sought-after Northern Lights Santa Academy in Atlanta. Dad explained that’s where a lot of holiday performers go to learn their craft. He also joined the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, a professional organization that helps seasonal performers with background checks, liability insurance, scholarships and build a network of fellow Santas and Mrs. Clauses.

He had no idea how much goes into being Santa professionally. Turns out, it all starts with the suit. Dad contacted the number one Santa Claus costumer in the country, Adele’s of Hollywood. He spoke with Adele directly and started creating the suit that would become his Santa persona. Dad explained, “It’s kind of like a clown. You know how a clown has it’s own identity? Santa Clauses do too. They create their persona by the type of Santa Claus suit they create.”

He said some Santas are the funny, jolly, comical guys. Others are the wise, grandfatherly, “Father Christmas” types. I think of a Dumbledore-type Santa. So, of course, I had to ask, “Dad, what kind of Santa are you?”

He thought about it and said, “I want to be the ‘Real Deal Santa.’” He shared a story from the Carolina Inn a few weekends ago. Young parents brought their children dressed festively to visit him. He said the father leaned over to him and said, “Man, you’re the real deal!” Dad says that’s the highest complement he could have received as Santa.

In Character

In response to that father, Dad replied, “That’s because I am Santa!” When I asked him what was the most surprising thing about his new profession, he said, “Once you put on your costume, you transition to the role of Santa. You do not get out of character. That was somewhat of a surprise to me. They pound it into you in these training courses and books. When you put that hat and coat on and you have your jingle bells, you are Santa Claus!”

Staying in character is what makes the magic happen for young and old. Dad’s love of Christmas came out when he told me, “People, even adults, when they see me, they light up and the spirit of Christmas seems to envelop them. It’s just amazing! I enjoy not just the children, but also the adults when they see Santa Claus because it takes them back to their own childhood. A time when Christmas was magic for them. ‘Hey Santa!’ ‘I’ve been a good girl or good guy!’ ‘I haven’t been so good, but I’m trying!’ It just brings joy to them and brings joy to me.”

My dad laughs at Elin Allard of Raleigh, Christmas 2019. Currently, children talk to my dad from a distance through a speaker to maintain social distance. He sits up on a sleigh. (Amy Davis)

Grandaddy’s Job

It’s funny where I see Dad as Santa pop up. I don’t talk about it often, so I don’t let it slip about Dad’s job and my kids find out. My friend Jolene took the photo above. A UNC grad, she was excited to take her daughter to Brunch with Santa at the Carolina Inn. I saw it on Facebook and said, “Did you know that that Santa is my Dad?!” We laughed.

I heard my middle son say to a friend last December, “Yeah, my Grandaddy does look like Santa because of his beard, but he’s my Grandaddy.” Dad is adamant about not sharing his new retirement profession with the grandkids.

He says of Christmas, “I want it to stay as magical as possible for them. They know me not as Santa Claus, but as Grandaddy. I think it would take away from their fantasy of it if I came in as Santa Claus, but as Grandaddy. I don’t want to spoil that for them.”

My daughter, his oldest granddaughter, is now an 11 year-old 5th grader, growing up a little more every day. I asked Dad when he would tell her about being Santa. Little did I know, he has plans for the grandkids to help spread the magic when they get older. As she becomes a teen, he wants to let her in on the secret and he has a gig for her if she wants it. “I’m actually kind of excited about telling her! I’ll need her to be my elf when she gets a little older,” he said.

Christmas magic in a new form. Thanks, Santa/Dad/Grandaddy.

Amy Davis is a monogramming mom of three and fitness instructor with FIT4MOM Midtown Raleigh and web contributor for the historic Village District. She is a regular Go Ask Mom contributor.

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