Thompson, Taitel keep Santa alive
By Greg Hough
Emerald Contributor
It's the grand illusion of ear
ly childhood A big bearded
man in a red suit arrives on
your roof, transported by a
sleigh pulled by eight tor nine)
flying reindeer, and proceeds
to come down your chimney
and pull from his sack some
toys to put under your Christ
mas tree
The whole Santa Claus sto
retty fishy after age
. but for awhile it's a
ntertaining game for
I to mention for the
parents who help perpetuate
the Santa myth
In Eugene, it's up to people
like Kim Thompson and Ben
Taitel to help moms and dads
keep the Santa story credible
They are both playing the role
of Santa Claus this holiday
season. Taitel is at the down
town mall and Thompson at
Valley River Center
"Every year I keep saying
I'm not going to do it again,
but I do. Thompson said
After this year, though. I real
ly think I'll give it a rest It s
fun. but bending down all day
to raise kids up to your lap
really gets you in the back
People think you don t get
tired, but you do '
Taitel is in his second year
of playing Santa downtown
As an actor director who s
been involved with a number
of local theatrical produ;
lions he approaches the role
of St Nick as a thesptan
would
It doesn t take much psy
chological preparation before
I go on. Taitel said I think
just putting on the costume
begins the transformation By
the time the beard goes on I
look in the mirror and I don't
see me anymore. I see Santa
Claus So it's easy to get into
character
Once a child is on Thomp
son s lap. he will ask them
questions, finding out their
name, what they would like
for Christmas, what they did
this morning, and so on
The kids ask a lot about
the reindeer Thompson said
The only specific one they
ask about is Rudolph They
also want to know where the
reindeer are
I try to give each child as
much time as they want
Taitel said Usually if you get
them between four and six
years old. they still believe in
me so I don t have to do as
much explaining
Neither Taitel nor Thomp
son had any formal training to
play Santa, and Taitel says it's
lust as well he wasn't trained
The main thing is. you
need a feeling for children
Taitel said You need to be
empathetic with them
Thompson and Taitel each
told of similar items kids are
asking Santa for this year
They said many kids want
Nintendo video games
The girls still like the
Barbies they re asking
more for the accessory kits
more than the dolls them
selves, Thompson said The
boys still want the (Teenage
Mutant) Nin|a Turtles That s
the norm but we get the occa
sional odd request — one
boy. about 13 or so. wanted
two high-powered hunting ri
fles."
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