Santa Claus of Dallas Texas

Book Dallas Texas Santa Today!

Sleigh Phone: (469) 671-4242

Santa's Helper

Santa Larry Appears On Kare11 Minneapolis, MN

by

Article Originally featured at Kare11.com

Santa Larry has heard a lot of requests for presents. But he's also heard his share of tougher questions - ones that Santa can't always answer.
Author: Adrienne Broaddus
Published: 3:49 PM CST December 3, 2018
Updated: 7:13 PM CST December 3, 2018

Santa Larry is entering his third season at the Mall of America.

And during that time, he's heard a lot of requests for presents. But he's also heard his share of tougher questions - ones that Santa can't always answer.

He sat down with Adrienne Broaddus to explain how he deals with those wish lists.

You can visit Santa Larry at his "home away from home" at the Mall of America in Bloomington.

You can see him Tuesday through Friday via appointment.

For more information, call The Santa Experience at 612-203-2656 or visit the website.

NPR.org Radio Interview with Santa Larry Jefferson Black Santa

by

Larry Jefferson has been putting on a big red suit and perfecting his best ho, ho, ho for nearly 20 years.

The retired Army captain plays Santa at shopping malls, holiday parties, and charity benefits. He hit the big time this year when he was handpicked at a Santa convention to appear at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn.

And by all accounts, kids and parents at the mall loved him. But when the story spread online, the negative attacks starting pouring in — because Jefferson is black.

Jefferson says the online negativity didn’t surprise him — “because of the times in which we are living in” — but, he adds, “that backlash was only a small percentage.”

For Santa Larry, as he likes to be called, playing Santa pretty much seems to be his calling in life. “That’s what all my friends are telling me, despite what the mean-spirited Grinch people are saying online,” he tells NPR’s, Rachel Martin. “They’re going to get coal … for sure.”

Click on the audio button to hear the full interview.

 

 

People Magazine First Black Santa Makes History at Mall of America

by

Santa Larry was featured in People Magazine on December 2, 2016.
Full Article is below, for Original Article: Click Here

For the first time in the Mall of America’s nearly quarter-century history, shoppers are getting their first black Santa.

Larry Jefferson, a retired U.S. Army veteran from Irving, Texas, is joining the Bloomington, Minnesota, mall’s roster of Santa Claus’s for four days this week. He’ll be the first black Santa in the Mall of America’s history.

“This is a long time coming,” Landon Luther, co-owner of the Santa Experience, which has run the intimate photo studio at the mall for 10 years, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “We want Santa to be for everyone, period.”

Jefferson is the result of a year-long search Luther started in 2015. He was uncovered at a Santa convention in Branson, Missouri, where he was the only black Santa in attendance. “It was like finding a needle in a haystack,” Luther said. “He considers himself a Santa for all.”

Jefferson’s career as a Santa dates back to his youth: After his father injured his back, he took over the role as a 12-year-old, passing out presents to his brothers and sisters. After returning from service in the Gulf War, Jefferson dressed up for his nephews, who were sick and unable to visit Santa at their local mall.

He then matriculated through a leading Santa school and joined Texas’ Lone Star Santas, a nonprofit with over 350 Santas, Mrs. Clauses and elves who visit disaster-affected areas and donate toys to children in need. (The group has several Hispanic Santas and at least to Jewish members.)

“Kids only see one image of Santa,” Shanene Herbert, director of Project SPIRIT, an after-school program for black children in St. Paul public schools, told the Star-Tribune. “Even though he’s a fictional character, he could be any color, any race, any gender. This is an image of him too.” Herbert was working to fit a meet-and-greet between Santa Larry and her students into his busy schedule. (He’s booked solid over the weekend, and returns to Texas next week.)

Jefferson, meanwhile, has a Christmas wish of his own: He’d like to visit President Obama in the White House. And he remains genially philosophical about his mission: “I’m just a messenger to bring hope, love and peace to girls and boys.”

Fortune Magazine – Mall of America Welcomes Its First-Ever Black Santa

by

In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, Larry Jefferson, playing the role of Santa, gets a hug from Olivia Major, left, her sister Mallory and brother Preston, of Blaine, at the Santa Experience at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. The nation’s largest mall is hosting its first-ever black Santa Claus this this weekend. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via AP)

Larry Jefferson, playing the role of Santa, gets a hug from Olivia Major, left, her sister Mallory and brother Preston, of Blaine, at the Santa Experience at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Photograph by Leila Navidi—Star Tribune via AP

For the first time in its 24-year history, Mall of America (MOA) welcomes its first black Santa.

Landon Luther, co-owner of MOA’s Santa Experience photo studio, was first introduced to Larry Jefferson after another MOA Santa met him at a “Kris Kringle reunion” convention in Branson, Mo., the Star Tribune reports. Jefferson, a U.S. Army veteran from Irving, Texas, was the only black Santa among nearly 1,000 impersonators. He’ll work for four days at MOA in Bloomington Minn., outside of Minneapolis, before returning to Dallas to work the seasonal circuit, according to the Tribune.

Jefferson will work exclusively for the Santa Experience studio (the alternative for kids is to wait in line with the masses to meet another Santa), where families book appointments for holiday photo packages. He’ll pass out candy canes and remind kids to eat their vegetables and always listen to their parents. Because, to Jefferson, that’s what kids will be looking for as opposed to the color of his skin.

“What they see most of the time is this red suit and candy,” he told the Tribune. “[Santa represents] a good sprit. I’m just a messenger to bring hope, love, and peace to girls and boys.”