Santa meets and greets at Mills in Jersey Garden

Last year was a strange year for Santa Claus, and Ken Cusack said that he appeared as Kenny Claus in South Jersey for about eight years.

"It's fun to say the least," he told NJ Advance Media.

Cusack’s main performance last year was to greet passengers on the Santa Claus Express, a Cape May waterfront train that travels back and forth between Takaho and Richland. This trip usually looks like the scene of a polar express train, but in 2020, the train runs at 50% capacity and strictly enforces the regulations on wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. No one was sitting on Santa’s lap. Cusack, with a happy smile and iconic white beard, wearing a mask, stood awkwardly in the aisle of the train and took pictures with passengers to maintain social distancing. But this year?

"It will be more interesting," Cusack said.

The Santa Claus Express has actually been expanded to meet this year’s demand, adding two train cars and even adding a Santa Claus to ensure that every child in the car gets the same attention from the big man. Cusack's personal bookings have also improved.

"If you want Santa Claus this year, you must contact early because I am fully booked," he said.

Retailers, holiday actors, agents, and experts interviewed by NJ Advance Media said that the demand for Santa Claus is particularly high this season, because as the vaccination rate rises, people's fear of coronavirus has diminished. When the crowd flocked to Santa Claus this year, interviewees said that they can look forward to a more traditional meeting and greeting experience, just like the past COVID Christmas season.

Cherry Hill Programs is a provider of Christmas holidays and photography events in malls across the country. This year it will host more than 675 Santa Claus events in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, including approximately 20 malls in New Jersey. Santa Claus in your local shopping mall is likely to be vaccinated because the company’s policy is to vaccinate every employee unless they have a medical or religious exemption, in which case they will undergo mandatory COVID testing every week .

Deptford Mall in southern New Jersey, which signed a contract with Cherry Hill Programs, only allowed families to visit Santa Claus through a contactless experience last year. All participants wore masks and kept their distance. But in this season, families can choose how they experience contact with Santa Claus—sitting on Santa’s lap at a distance or close, putting on or taking off the mask to take actual photos.

On Saturday, November 20, 2021, a family took a photo with Santa Claus as they greeted Santa at the Mill in Elizabeth Jersey Gardens. Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance M

Of course, certain health agreements still exist. Following CDC guidelines, holiday kits are disinfected before opening and deep cleaned after closing. Clean areas with high traffic and high touch points between guest visits. According to the COVID guidelines on the Cherry Hill Programs website, fabric treatment is provided for Santa’s suit after each shift.

Patrali Chatterjee, dean of the Marketing Department at Montclair State University, said that returning to the more traditional Santa meet-and-greet experience is good news for retailers.

"Researchers have found that there are Santa Clauses and decorations in the mall. Not only children, but also adults, their psychological framework has changed. When they enter, they are more likely to be immersed in the fiction of that event. And fantasy. Shopping center," Chatterjee told NJ Advance Media.

"People are willing to buy more, they are willing to try new things, they are willing to consider new brands, and they are willing to spend more on the experience instead of simply buying according to the list. Therefore, when the shopping mall organizes Santa’s display, purchases are not planned The ratio may be higher," Chatterjee said.

But Santa Claus doesn't just show up in shopping malls. He also appeared at birthday parties, company events, and private photo studios to shoot personalized family portraits-all of which made San Jersey Joe very busy this holiday season.

Santa Jersey Joe, also known as Joseph Nametko, Mayor of Netcong Borough, has been playing Santa professionally for seven vacations. After experiencing the calm of 2020, he is fully booked this year.

Santa Jersey Joe, also known as Joseph Nametko, Mayor of Netcong Borough, has been playing Santa professionally for seven vacations. Last year, he lost about 25% of his business due to the pandemic, but the situation rebounded.

"Since September, I have been working every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I will work until New Year's Eve," Nametko said.

If you are currently considering booking your own private Kris Kringle, please be warned in advance that Nametko's schedule may be the norm and not an exception this year. Joan Pence, who owns and operates NJ Party Entertainment-Beauty & the Beast LLC, said she has received "desperate" calls from several clients who are looking for the last-minute Santa.

"The client told me,'My God, I called, I called this, that, they all told me the same thing, they were not up to the job. There were no performers," she said.

Stephen Arnold, president and CEO of the International Brotherhood of Real Beard Santa Clauses (IBRBS), the world's largest professional Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus organization, said that it is precisely the increase in demand that is causing the shortage of performers. Arnold explained that there are two reasons for the increase in demand.

Arnold said: "Many parents have lost the opportunity to let their children visit Santa in person for a year, so this time they are making up for it."

"This is part of it. The second thing is that there is a lot of demand for Santa to continue to play the virtual characters that became so popular last year," he said.

Arnold said that this year’s Santa meeting and greeting family may be doubled, choosing personal screen time with Saint Nick and face-to-face photos that can be placed in the scrapbook.

In a typical year before COVID, Arnold said he would arrange about 75 to 100 in-person visits. It was reduced to 30 last year. This year is completely different. With the advent of Zoom, Santa can have more visits.

"In addition to possibly 85 to 100 personal visits, I will also make about 100 to 120 virtual visits. My calendar is full," he said.

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You can contact Jackie Roman at jroman@njadvancemedia.com or Twitter @JacqueRoman.

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