High Country St. Nick

HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK tailors Christmas visits specifically to your needs. Whether for Christmas parades, tree lighting ceremonies, home visits, sneak n' peaks, video visits, commercial print work, advertisements, television commercials, carol-sings, or store appearances, he will work with you to provide a truly memorable and heartwarming one-of-a-kind experience.

For many years, Eric Thomas performed across the United States and throughout the world as a professional actor and opera singer, in addition to performing Off-Broadway and in television. Now, as a professional Santa Claus portrayal artist, HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK provides magical Christmas experiences nationwide. Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, High Country St. Nick is a member of the International Brotherhood of Real-Bearded Santas and a graduate of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School--the largest and oldest Santa Claus School in the world!

No two Santa experiences are the same.

Generally speaking, if HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK is expected to perform the traditional "Santa Chair" visit, the chair should be of substantial construction, with plenty of cushioning, and NOT red, so as to allow Santa's suits to stand out! Santa weighs about 250lbs. Help him stay jolly by providing him with a comfortable chair!

Santa's entrance should be well thought out and arranged with Santa in advance. Jingling entrances are usually pretty easy and satisfying for all. But fire trucks, horses, trains, etc., are great options as well--if you have them at your disposal!

Depending on his schedule that day, Santa may arrive at the venue already wearing his suit. In that case, it is imperative that Santa has a way to park his sleigh and enter the venue without being seen by the public.

If there are to be other costumed characters, this must be discussed ahead of time. Generally speaking, HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK prefers not to work with Grinches! This has become a trend of late, and it tends to frighten the children, which is totally unacceptable. If Santa is to share an appearance with the Grinch, Mr. Grinch must be able to subjugate himself to Santa and NOT present a frightening visage to the children. Remember, in the end, the Grinch's heart grows by three sizes and he becomes a loving creature. There is no room for children to be scared during Christmas!

In NO WAY will HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK ever appear in conjunction with Krampus or Black Peter!

There should NEVER be another Santa in the vicinity of the event. If a parade, only one Santa! If another sort of event, still...only one Santa! This is not an ego thing. It's just that more than one Santa confuses the children...and that is to be avoided, especially around Christmas time! Please do your best to enforce this.

HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK occasionally appears at adult events...but will not be photographed with alcohol or in a way that tarnishes the purity of Santa Claus.

Santa should have a clean private dressing room in which to prepare, along with a private, and exquisitely clean, bathroom. Santa's suits cost thousands of dollars, and they must have a clean place to hang out! An attendant would be welcome to assist Santa with his preparation and entrances, but this is not absolutely necessary. Again, all of this can be worked out in pre-performance conversations.

For every hour of performing, Santa should have 10 to 15 minutes break time.

If you wish HIGH COUNTRY ST. NICK to bring an elf along, that will be an additional charge to be discussed ahead of time. Alternatively, if you wish to provide elves, that's just fine too! But Santa should have the opportunity to confer with them in advance.

If you are providing a photographer, Santa should have a conversation with him/her prior to the event. If the photographer consents to provide Santa with some photographs at the end of the event--while not necessary--it certainly would be a welcome Christmas present for Santa!

This should be your guiding principle: Santa is for children. Don't mess it up for them. Let them leave with a wonderful memory to tuck away in their hearts forever.