Santa Gives Back with a Smile

By Larry Kennedy

My introduction to playing Santa started when I was just a little boy sitting on the second-floor stairs in my pj’s and watching my father1 hold his annual Christmas party for his staff, residents and fellows. He would pick out a different fellow each year to play Santa and pass out the gifts. 

Years later, I grew to appreciate my parents’ Christmas tradition of giving back. Over the course of my own Santa career, now over a decade long, I’ve come to fully realize the joy and holiday spirit that Santa can instill in people, young and old, by simply helping to create a smile. 

From November till Christmas, I’ll do up to 35 gigs — everywhere from the Polar Express2 to Cleveland Clinic Children’s — and interact with 3,000 children annually. 

It doesn’t take much for me to get into character. I put on some Christmas music in the car. Bing Crosby. Nat King Cole. Burl Ives. I crank it up and sing along. 

Since I wear my beard year-round, I get looks wherever I go, even without my Santa suit. Kids look up and wonder if I’m you-know-who. With a smile, I say “Yes, I am” and ask if they would like a picture and what they would like for Christmas.

 

Larry and Maryann Z. Kennedy have provided high school and college scholarships for dozens of students. The Kennedys also support the Roscoe J. Kennedy, MD, Lectureship at Cleveland Clinic’s Cole Eye Institute.

polaroid photograph of santa sitting on a gold chair with his arms up and smiling

 Photo: Courtesy of Larry Kennedy

Notes

  1. Kennedy’s father, Roscoe J. Kennedy, MD, was Head of the Department of Ophthalmology for 22 years of his 50-year tenure at Cleveland Clinic. He also served with Cleveland Clinic’s Naval Reserve Unit in New Zealand during World War II.
  2. The Polar Express, replaced by the North Pole Adventure in 2021, is a train that offers holiday-themed rides through Northeast Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park.