Driftless Multimedia’s Zach Jensen interviews Derek Spalla while he was on duty as an Official Santa Helper™ at the Washington Street Suites Holiday Open House earlier this month. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Roz Weis)
Driftless Multimedia’s Zach Jensen interviews Derek Spalla while he was on duty as an Official Santa Helper™ at the Washington Street Suites Holiday Open House earlier this month. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Roz Weis)
It’s almost time to set out milk and cookies for Santa Claus, as he makes his annual trip around the globe Christmas Eve. And, leading up to that highly-anticipated following day, Official Santa HelpersTM, like Derek Spalla of Ridgeway, are busy making their lists and checking them twice, so they can tell Santa who’s been naughty or nice.
“By all means, it feels great to be able to help Santa this way,” Derek said. “This is just another gift from Santa, in my opinion, because I get to help him spread the cheer and joy to all the children and their families in this area. And, having that privilege, from the Big Man himself, makes Christmas even more rewarding and exciting for me.”
As an Official Santa Helper™ family, young Derek helped his dad, Cal, with his seasonal responsibilities by dressing as an elf and helping Cal spread the joy of Christmas. And, every holiday season, as many folks in the region will recall, the father and son team did their job in style — using Cal’s limousine from the family-owned Ridgeway Limo Service as their “sleigh”.
Derek admitted that, in those early years, he had difficulty determining whether the Santa in front of him was his dad working as Santa’s helper … or if it was the real Santa. But, that mystery was unraveled when Derek was about 11 years old, when, one fateful day, Derek noticed something peculiar about the Santa Claus that visited his house each year.
“My dad used to wear those old-school lace-up Red Wing work boots,” Derek said. “Well, when I was about 11, I noticed Santa was wearing those same boots. And, I also noticed that whenever Santa was around, my dad was gone. So, that’s
really how I found out, and it was great, because I view myself just like my dad. He was very outspoken, and I am too, and I’m proud to not only be like my dad, but I’m also proud to carry on this tradition – of helping Santa like this every year.
“Dad took his work for Santa very seriously, and he really never stopped being Santa,” he continued. “He used to just randomly pull the sleigh into peoples’ driveways, because there were people there, and he’d just walk right in — in his work clothes — his Official Santa Helper™ Suit. He was not bashful at all, and he was always up for having a good time.”
Cal passed in 2014 due to an arterial issue, but even while mortally ill and on Oxygen, Cal continued to assist Santa with his annual duties.
“That’s just how my dad was,” Derek said. “He was a no-nonsense, easygoing kind of guy, and once he made his mind up to do something, there was no stoppin’ him. He knew he needed to help Santa, and he surely wasn’t going to let his Oxygen tank get in the way of that!”
After Cal passed, that’s when Derek was notified by Santa Claus, via a reindeer courier, that it was then up to him to carry on the family tradition of helping Santa each year, which he has faithfully done every year since and hopes to continue indefinitely into the future. Derek said he plans to continue working for Santa for “quite a few more years, because it’s so much fun.”
“My doctor says I need to lose some weight, but who’s ever heard of a skinny Santa?” Derek said with a hearty chuckle.
Derek said each Official Santa Helper™ is assigned specific children to keep track of every year and that another way Helpers, like him, help Santa is by making those famous lists of naughty and nice children for the boss at the North Pole. He said it used to be that Santa didn’t need any help, but beginning about 100 years ago, the global population started escalating very quickly.
According to historical records, in 1923, Santa just had 1.86 billion people to remember every year. But, now, the global population has breeched 8 billion people, which is why Santa started the Official Santa Helper™ Program — to make sure he could continue to spread the same Christmas cheer around the world — even as Earth’s population continues to grow.
Derek said kids often ask him why he didn’t come down the chimney, which can get interesting, because most houses no longer have fireplaces or chimneys. But, he said he’s also regularly asked where he parks his reindeer.
“If it’s nighttime, I say they’re on the roof, and they’re always like ‘Can I see them? Can I see them?’ And, of course, then I have to tell them that these are magic reindeer, and they can’t see them,” Derek said. “Then, some will say ‘But Rudolph’s nose is so bright’, and I have to explain that he turns his nose off when we land – just like we do when we park our own vehicles. Technically, nobody’s supposed to see the reindeer, so Santa has them rigged up with special camouflage that the elves put together. But, if the children listen closely, they can usually hear us fly away.”
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