ROUSES_Holiday2018Magazine-FINAL.indd

here’s the Tooth Fairy, who’s RENT-A-SANTA by SARAH BAIRD T ready to place a dollar under your pillow in exchange for a molar, and the Easter Bunny,

who comes bearing baskets of pastel- colored treats to help mark the begin- ning of spring. If you were like me, you also probably had a whole bunch of imaginary friends. (No? Just me? Fine.) And while most of our youthful love for these mythical beings stems from the fact that they’re always giving out presents, there’s one enchanted man that rises above all others, both as gift-giver and holiday legend: Santa Claus. It’s hard to imagine a character that kids love more than the dude in a red velvet suit bellowing, “Ho, ho, ho!” as he flies his fearless team of reindeer through the night. The real Santa, though, is a tough guy to track down. So when, as an adult, you’re tasked with bringing Santa to a first-grade holiday party or cocktail soirée, it’s time to call in some rein- forcements. Enter the Rent-a-Santas: actors who have made it their life’s work to spread a little bit of holiday cheer by playing Santa Claus. “I started [being Santa] as kind of a joke,” says Clay LeBrun of New Orleans, who has played Santa since 2014. “I belong to a steampunk group, and I kind of look like Santa Claus: I’m heavyset with a big beard, and have a maroon pirate coat with fake rabbit-skin trim. I wanted to go to the renaissance fair dressed as a Russian, but I thought, “Hey, this kind of looks like Santa Claus!” Everyone else remarked that [I looked like Santa] too, so I went as

Throughout childhood, there are a number of magical creatures that one learns to love unconditionally.

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