WRITER | MARY ROSE KULCZAK
PHOTO |ERIN DRALLOS, FOOTPRINTS PHOTOGRAPHY
A School for Santas
The Charles W. Howard Santa School in Midland
Celebrates 88 Years in Operation
Winter 2025 Issue
Santa Claus may come from the North Pole, but it’s very likely he got his training from the Santa Claus School in Midland, Michigan.
Established in 1937, the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School was originally formed in Albion, New York. It was there that Charles W. Howard dedicated his career to elevating the role of Santa from cheap suits and beards to a more elegant and refined Santa that paid homage to the legend.
Howard had been the featured Santa for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1948 until 1965. Eventually, the school made its way from New York to Bay City, Michigan and then to Midland. Today, it is the longest-running school of its kind in the world, celebrating its 88th year in operation.
In 1987, Tom and Holly Valent took over the school and began running the three-day seminars in the newly constructed Santa House in downtown Midland. Tom, president and CEO of Gerach Construction, had been one of the original designers of the house.
Today, the Santa Claus School is conducted in the Midland Center for the Arts, where over 300 Santas from around the world come to learn what it takes to embody the spirit of the season. They learn the history of St. Nicholas and Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Students learn about costumes and makeup application, along with tips on marketing and business insight.
Santa students can visit a reindeer farm, attend the Santa House open house or take a trip to Frankenmuth to tour Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland. They learn about vendors of Santa suits and Mrs. Claus costumes, many of which can cost thousands of dollars. But the most important thing that students learn is how to have a heart like Santa that embraces young and old with the joy of the holidays.
Joseph Eadie, or Santa Joe, has been portraying the jolly old elf for twenty years in the Southeast Michigan region under the name Merry Town Santa Claus. Eadie had worked in local theater when he began accepting requests to portray Santa at area events.
“I’d heard about this Christmas school in interviews on WJR radio, where Tom Valent, who is the director of CW. Howard school, would be talking about it. I thought, that’d be neat to go to.”
In 2020, Eadie attended the Santa School for the first time with other would-be Santas from around the world.
“You learn some history from St. Nicholas to current versions of Santa Claus,” Eadie says. “For example, Santa doesn’t always wear red. He sometimes wears green. He appears in different countries at different ages.”
“What you learn at the C.W. Howard School is how to have the heart of Santa Claus. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s a hot suit, you are inside, and you are on, as they say in the theater. You need to be able to become that character. You have to have a certain caring heart, a kind heart.”
Eadie says that attendees will learn how to speak with the children, interact with live reindeer and dress in different costumes.
“When the bug bites you, you end up with suits and wardrobes that may cost you a few thousand dollars. You want to have a certain presence. You may learn performance skills. You have prompts and stories that you develop. You have an opportunity to learn all of that there.”
Eadie most enjoyed meeting and interacting with other Santas from all over the world.
“For three or four days, you are surrounded by people in an atmosphere where everyone is like-minded,” he says. The world goes away. You are in a world of fantasy, of caring and sharing and learning from one another. You learn as much in the hallways of your hotel as you do in your classes.”
“Many Santas will say it’s a calling, that God taps you on the shoulder and says, ‘Here’s something for you.’ I represent the spirit of love and goodness and kindness. It’s a wonderful opportunity. That’s what the heart of Santa is.”
