Ask a small child about Santa Claus. Chances are good that you will get back an answer delivered in reverential tones, dripping with wonder and anticipation. The mystique is hard to beat because Santa is magical and kids know that.

Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf character in the 2003 film, “Elf” knew it too – screaming “Santa!” in a department store when he thought he caught a glimpse of his beloved Kris Kringle.

On the Grand Strand this holiday season, your kids might do the same when they encounter one of his emissaries at parades, tree lightings, store visits, and more. These men are professional Santa Clauses, surrogates for St. Nick himself. They might appear alone or with their Mrs. Clauses and an elf or two, but it’s clear that Santa Claus has come to town.

For this issue, Grand Strand Magazine spoke with four of them.

As the saying goes, it’s nice work if you can get it - but as we will see, it’s not always about the money. The Santas featured in these profiles do their fair share of charity work and other events without charging a dime. And the pay can vary, with some Santas reporting seasonal income between $10,000-$20,000.

For hourly pay, some report $35 per hour with a two-hour minimum, while others claim to rake in $100 to $300/hour. Travel time, the type of event and mileage considerations are also factors.

Their backgrounds and origin stories might be different, but the Christmas spirit is strong in each of them. You can tell by the twinkle in their eyes.

Here are their stories.

Santa Perry

David Perry (above) understands kids. 

With nine children and 12 grandchildren, one could say his experience is unmatched. Over the years, the longtime Conway resident has mastered the fine art of listening to determine what kids truly have to say. A man of faith and business owner committed to family and community, he’s one of the good guys. 

He’s also Santa Claus. 

Fourteen years ago, Perry put on the red suit at the prodding of friend and mentor Harry W. Rodgers, then a retired Myrtle Beach Police Department Sergeant and professional Santa. Rodgers passed away in 2021, an event Perry says broke his heart. 
 
“We went to the same church. He was after me the year before and said, ‘With all the kids you’ve got, you just need to do it.’ He just kept talking about how it was fun for the kids – and he said my personality would be good because I’ve always loved kids,” says Perry. 

For a time at Bethany Bible Chapel in Conway, there were two Santas at the ends of the same pew: Santa Harry and Santa Perry. 

For more than a decade, he and wife Melinda Perry – aka Mrs. Claus - have been the main event at Conway’s Breakfast with Santa events, the Conway Christmas Parade and more – but  that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He’s a go-to Santa for photographers from Conway to Johns Island and has garnered more than 400 leads this year alone on GigSalad, an online booking platform for entertainers, musicians, and, yes, Santa Clauses.

“It’s the most fun an adult should be allowed to have,” says Perry. “It’s a combination of being able to share my faith and stand-up comedy – and just knowing how to do things. It’s just a blast.”

His work as Santa with the City of Conway is due in large part to his professional relationships with Conway Parks and Recreation head Ashley Smith, Conway Downtown Alive Executive Director Hillary Howard, and Conway Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Kelli S. James. 

“A lot of these contacts were kind of ancillary to the copier business,” Perry says. 

The copier business in question is his long-standing Integrity Business Machines in Conway.

Perry says he could have up to 150 hours of Santa visitation during November and December. Much of this work is for photo shoots, notably with Sarah Hughes of MadSky Photography in Conway. 

There have been oyster roasts in Mount Pleasant, a stint with Coastal Carolina University, library visits, and so much more. He’s also active in recruiting and mentoring new Santas whenever he gets the chance. In August, he attended a dinner with a group of Santas in Murrells Inlet.

“I think we had 29 Santas at it,” Perry recalls.

Perry makes no bones about the fact that he is a praying Santa. 

“I would say a large number of Santas are strong Christians,” Perry says “I’ve never been told not to pray for any child or adult. Being Santa gives you extra opportunities. The reason I am a good Santa is because they see a little bit of Jesus in me. They just don’t know it.”
The Conway Christmas Parade is scheduled for Saturday, December 14th at 10 am.

For more information about Santa Perry, visit www.facebook.com/santa.perry. 

Santa Greg

Greg Calvert (above) – aka Santa Greg of the MarshWalk - never had any aspirations to be Santa Claus, but an experience at the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk changed his mind. 

Calvert, a retired Certified Financial Planner, first discovered Murrells Inlet when his daughter was attending Coastal Carolina University. He’s originally from New Jersey, but relocated to North Carolina in 2007. After his daughter graduated, Calvert continued to visit the area. 

On one of these trips nine years ago, he met his now significant other, Nancy Thompson, at The Wicked Tuna. Meeting Thompson was also pivotal in his decision to become Santa Claus. After four years of commuting from Burlington, N.C. to see Thompson, he finally moved to the Grand Strand in 2019. 

In 2017, Calvert got a call from Thompson, who was at the MarshWalk with a friend. She asked him if he had ever been Santa Claus. At that time, Calvert had a full beard, but he said it wasn’t a Santa beard. He told her he had never been Santa. 

Thompson offered to buy him a suit if he agreed to do it, which he did. 

“She got me a cheap suit on Amazon and I did the Santa Crawl,” Calvert says. “I enjoyed being Santa. I got pictures with some of the folks down there on the MarshWalk, met some new friends – but I didn’t win the competition.” 

The next year, he bought inexpensive stuffed animals at a dollar store, filled up his Santa bag and hit the Santa Crawl again. 

“As I would see a child, I’d sit with them and give them a little stuffed toy,” he says. “The joy on their faces and the feeling I got was just unbelievable. It reminded me of when my kids were little.”  That year, he won “Best Santa with Christmas Spirit.”

A photo taken by Thompson that night convinced him to become a professional Santa. A little girl had the very same expression of joy that his children displayed when they would see Santa. 

He was all in, and there was no looking back.

Calvert cites Charlie Campbell of the Claw House and Dead Dog Saloon for his first paying gigs at both restaurants, and MarshWalk spokesperson Christina Burzler of Brickyard Marketing for taking him on as Santa for Christmas events at the MarshWalk and at Thompson Farms in Conway. 

Santa Greg does home visits, parties, photo sessions, and other events. He has appeared as Santa at various restaurants on the Grand Strand, including all locations of The Grumpy Monk, The Sneaky Beagle in Carolina Forest, Hop N’ Wich in Conway, Local on the Water in North Myrtle Beach and more. He also regularly appears at Christmas in July events. 

His suits are now painstakingly created by Thompson and her sister, Patt Hobbs Patton.

“Nancy is a good seamstress, but Patt is a great seamstress,” he says. 

Santa Greg will be in his sleigh Fridays-Sundays from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m., (November 29th through December 22nd) during the MarshWalk Wonderland of Lights. You can also visit him at the Wicked Holiday Market at The Wicked Tuna and Neptune Bistro and Raw Bar on three Saturdays (December 7th, December 14th and December 21st) from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

“It makes me joyful to see other people joyful,” says Calvert. 

For more information about Calvert, search Facebook for Santa Greg of the Marshwalk. For all MarshWalk holiday events, visit www.marshwalk.com

Santa Harry

In July, the Weavers Shed at The Original Hammock Shop in Pawleys Island was renamed the Grant-Woodbury Weavers Shed to honor two men who have long carried on the tradition of hammock weaving in Pawleys Island – Marvin Grant and Harry Woodbury (photographed above). 

Grant retired shortly after being celebrated for his 34 years of service. 

In photos of the ribbon cutting, there’s a man in shorts and a golf shirt with white hair and an epic white beard being celebrated as well. That’s Woodbury, who has been crafting hammocks there for 25 years. If you think he looks like Santa Claus, you have good reason. 

Woodbury has been portraying Santa Claus at the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony at Hammock Shops Village almost as long as he’s been weaving the sought-after hammocks.

On a whim, Woodbury first became Santa Claus in the early 1980s so that he could pay a yuletide visit to the children of two of his friends. 

“I saw a suit at Walmart and just decided to get it – you know, the fake beard, the fake hair and the suit. But I did it and I liked it,” he says, adding that he continued to make visits for others, but the pursuit fell by the wayside for a time. 

Woodbury says that when he started at The Original Hammock Shop, he already knew about the tree lighting and still had the suit, so he offered his services. 

“I started then, and I’ve been doing it ever since. 

At first it was just me, and then my wife [Susan Vernon Woodbury] joined me as Mrs. Claus,” says Woodbury.

Early on, it was appearances at churches and elementary schools – and at home, where he would fool his eldest daughter when she was little. He would leave the house in street clothes and return as Santa with presents for her. 

“I would leave and then come back in my street clothes and she would go, ‘You just missed Santa!’ I’d go, ‘No way!’”

He did the same thing with his daughter’s first child, and the response was then, “Grandpa! You just missed Santa!”

December third marks the third time the Woodburys have appeared as Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Georgetown Christmas parade as well as the city’s tree lighting. As a Georgetown native, Woodbury relishes the experience. 

“With my white hair and my white beard- and my wife doing it -  it gives you the feeling like a rockstar on stage,” he says. “Everybody’s hollering for you or waving. Everybody’s pointing at you and shouting ‘we love you’ and stuff like that. It gets you feeling good, you know?”
The same daughter he used to trick when she was a child now handles his bookings, and Woodbury does everything from corporate Santa visits to private parties and home visits. 

“She books me left and right, and it seems like I am going from one place to another place to another place.”

Woodbury is a member of The Palmetto Santas, a group that he says gets together once or twice before the season starts. 

“We just had a get-together and there were 40 of us in the restaurant,” he recalls. “You can imagine the people’s faces.”

At The Original Hammock Shop, people see the hair and beard and start asking questions, especially the kids. The first thing they see after laying eyes on Woodbury is a hat rack with a Santa hat perched on it. Of course, they ask him about it. 

“I tell them I came here the day after Christmas and I found it on the doorknob of the shop – so I brought it in, thinking that somebody would pick it up. 

They kind of look at me, like, ‘OK, well you kind of look like him.’ I give them that little finger up to my mouth like, ‘Shhhh. Don’t let anybody know.’” 

To book Santa Harry, call Claire Cooper at (843) 543-1020.

Santa John

John Deane (above) was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Right out of high school, he joined the D.C. Police Department and remained until his retirement in 1986. During his time on the force, he met and married wife Karen Deane, a fellow police officer who retired in 1995. 

“After I retired, I went to work in the accounting department for several businesses,” Deane says. “In 1994, the boss came and threw his Visa card at me and said, ‘Go buy a Santa suit. You’re going to be Santa for the Christmas party.’”

Deane says that at the time his hair looked a lot like Tim Allen’s hair in the 1994 film “The Santa Clause.” 

That was the first time he ever put on the red suit. 

After that Christmas party, he wore the suit for some of his nieces and nephews, and by 1995 the Santa bug had taken hold. It had also taken hold with his wife, who stepped into the role as Mrs. Claus. 

“We went at it, and started picking up odds and ends here and there,” he says. “As my hair got whiter, every time we were in public somebody would come up to me and say, ‘Do you do Santa?’”

In 2010, the Deanes moved into the Myrtle Beach home they bought in 2005. One day, a lady stopped him at his mailbox and asked him that now familiar question. It was through this lady that he was hired by a national photo company that furnishes Santas to malls.

“They hired me to go to what I was hoping was the same mall for six years in a row so that I could watch the kids grow. It turned out that they wanted to put me in a different mall every year. After that stint with that company, we decided we’d go off on our own,” he recalls. “We book ourselves for events anywhere from Wilmington down to Charleston. We’ve just gotten to the point where we decide what we’re going to do. We book events that pay us and we book events that don’t pay us (senior centers, children’s charity events, police and fire departments). We’re not in it to make a ton of money. We just enjoy being Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.”

Deane has also appeared at The Dickens Christmas Show at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and at multiple City of Myrtle Beach events. 
Grand Strand Santa provides home and neighborhood visits, office parties, Christmas Eve home visits and more, including a service called Christmas Eve “Caught in the Act” visits. 

“You arrange with the parents to have the kids go to bed, and then Santa brings presents and puts them under the tree,” says Deane. “The parents go and get the children and sneak to the bottom of the stairs or somewhere they can watch him placing stuff under the tree. He just does his thing and leaves. There’s not supposed to be any interaction, but sometimes the kids just break away and I get caught.”

Portraying Santa Claus is a far cry from Deane’s former life as a police officer.

“The types of events I handled on the police department were rapes, bombings, arsons and a couple of airplane crashes,” he says. “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, but I thoroughly enjoyed the work,” he explains. “But I look back at that and compare it to being Santa Claus. It’s our reward for the years we spent in the murder capital of the world at one point, which was Washington, D.C. This is our reward for that.”

For more information about Grand Strand Santa, visit www.facebook.com/grandstrandsanta.