Posted on: Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Helping Santa do his stuff

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Looking after Santa is not at all what she thought it would be.

Kalei Kuoha-Tong took the job managing the Santa Set at Hilo's Prince Kuhio Mall. A Mainland-based entertainment company, Amusematte, handles Santa sets in shopping centers in 35 states across the country.

First off, Kuoha-Tong had to go to Santa School in California.

"We had classes from 9 in the morning until 9 at night," she says.

"They were teaching aloha! That's what Santa School is all about. And I'm thinking, eh, how come Santa School isn't in Hawai'i? We already know this stuff."

There was aloha, but there were a number of safeguards to cover as well.

Amusematte carefully screens all potential Santas for temperament and background. Santa Set managers learn how to screen a crowd for those who might be there to prey on little children distracted by the excitement of the Christmas display.

There's also special training on what to do if a child whispers a dark secret about their home life in Santa's ear. Santa's job gets more complicated all the time. Now he's equal parts Father Christmas and social worker.

"It's not happy-happy-joy-joy out there," Kuoha-Tong says. "The public is so stressed out. The parents are so busy. The kids just aren't smiling. It's funny, but it's not funny."

Which makes her job, and her aloha, all the more important.

Kuoha-Tong expects her Santa to see 40,000 people in six weeks at Kuhio Mall. She has eight people on her staff including greeters and a photographer, but when it comes down to it, it's all about Santa's stamina.

"A lot of adults want to take pictures with Santa. We have a lot of tutu, mothers and daughters, families wanting to send pictures to their loved ones in Iraq. We had an 86-year-old sit on Santa's lap the other day."

Santa gets a few rest breaks in the day, and the kids are told that he's "feeding the reindeer," but for the hours he's on the job, it's Kuoha-Tong's responsibility to look out for him.

"They taught us if a sumo wrestler comes to the set, do not let the sumo wrestler sit on Santa's lap. You have to put Santa on the wrestler's lap because you have only one Santa for the season and if you abuse his lap or hurt him in any way, you're going to be without your Santa."

So far, there have been unsmiling children, grumpy parents, jeers from passers-by complaining about the commercialization of Christmas. But it's not all bah humbug. Each day, Kuoha-Tong's mailbox is full of children's hopeful little letters to Santa.

"There's a lot to be said for what Santa does for people. I thought I outgrew it. But now being part of it, I can see myself putting in the extra effort. I'm excited. I want to make the set really happy because I see so many not-so-happy people."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.