The new in town

Wandering through airports, malls and crowded streets, Will Schutze quietly judges people. He asks himself, “What would Scrooge think?” He then finds a way to mock them.

This may seem like cause for concern, but Schutze is busy preparing for his role as Scrooge at NorthPark Center this month.

“Everywhere I go, I’m constantly walking and insulting people in my head, in that playful way, of course,” he says.

Wearing all black, the 30-year-old puppeteer will walk into the puppethouse stationed inside NorthPark Center and put the Scrooge puppet on his hand for his second season. He’ll hurl insults at children and spray them with water as a warning to get off his property. He’ll sarcastically compliment families’ thrifty tendencies, using the raspy old-man voice he has practiced for months.

Schutze will transform into Scrooge 10 times a day for the next month, and each time, he will remember his longtime mentor and Dallas legend John Hardman, who embodied Scrooge and his disdain of the holidays for nearly four decades. The character created by the longtime neighbor and puppeteer became a holiday icon in Dallas — it’s not Christmas until Scrooge’s sharp tongue begins to thrash, welcoming in the season as only he could.

When Hardman lost his battle to cancer in 2015, Scrooge’s future at NorthPark became murky, until Schutze was asked to take over the role. He already had done a one-week stint at Scrooge when Hardman was in the hospital with pneumonia, so he was familiar with the technical aspects of the show.

But taking on a 38-year legacy of trash talk is no easy task, especially when it’s a constant reminder of what’s missing.

“It’s bittersweet because when I’m doing the show, I’m constantly thinking of John,” Schutze says. “But I find myself laughing at his jokes, and I feel like I can do that.”

Schutze now lives in Charleston, S.C., with his fiancé and cat, but he returns to Dallas twice a year for Scrooge Puppet

Theatre and the “World on a String” show at the State Fair of Texas.

Although anxiety crept in before his performances as Scrooge last year, he’s looking forward to seeing the smiles — and maybe a few frowns — on shoppers’ faces this season.

“I think it probably should have been a whole lot of pressure,” he says. “But just the show itself is a lot of pressure when you have an entire audience staring at a puppet on your hand, and your job is to insult them and make them laugh.”

Schutze first was introduced to puppeteering after graduating high school. Hardman’s wife, Patti, was his theater teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School; she later invited him to work on the “World on a String” show at the fair, another one of Hardman’s projects. Seeing the marionettes hanging from the back room ceiling fascinated him, and Schutze found his niche without even realizing it.

“They didn’t even have to be performing. Just hanging there, they really spoke to me,” he says.

For

More Seasonal Celebrations At Northpark

Hardman was the catalyst for Schutze’s career, which includes an appearance with his puppet show in Jon Favreau’s 2014 movie “Chef.” He initially moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, but is now a full-time puppeteer in South Carolina. He’s even creates his own marionettes.

He’s memorized Hardman’s list of comebacks and insults, remembers his advice, but his larger-than-life personality has left the largest impression on Schutze. He says Hardman was performing around the clock, even if he was just sitting at the dinner table with his family and friends.

“I’ve always wanted to be like that. I’m more naturally shy when I’m not performing,” Schutze says. “And I always kind of think about John when I’m trying to channel that sort of energy and tell jokes and crack people up. He’s an inspiration in all ways.” —ELISSA

Scrooge at NorthPark

Visit northparkcenter.com for performance times and dates.

CHUDWIN

Eat And Be Merry

The Grape restaurant

THINGS WE LOVED Winter Solstice

sweet with which to stuff a stocking.

PRICKLY POPPY BAKERY

ERIN VAN KIRK in 2013 with the commitment to making each creation. Customers can start with set

WACKYM’S KITCHEN

Job interviews can cause obsessive -

PAUL WACKYM to craft the entire concept — either interactive CELEBRATION OF THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR -

Organic melodies

HOLIDAY HYMNS EMANATING FROM A HOME in make them in seasonal shapes such as were selling at the Green Spot Market.

A DANCING BAKER

Kings X

Get real on New Year’s Eve

Facebook. com/Adancingbaker both ST. NICK and beloved FATHER JOSEF VOLLMER-KÖNIG, St. Pat’s church pastor. A mile walk/run begins at the church, Ferndale at Walnut Hill, at 9 a.m., and a 5k follows at 9:30, Dec. 10. Like most Catholic churches, St. Patrick’s holds a midnight Christmas Eve mass. One tasty tidbit about church pastor Josef: the 63-year-old former chef is a prizewinning gingerbread-house architect. A few Christmases ago, his commissioned gingerbread mansions brought in a few thousand dollars, he told us in a 2013 interview. He gave all the earnings to Catholic Charities.

Serious runners should switch out athletic shoes every 300 miles or so, to prevent injury by keeping those insoles bouncy (or it’s an ingenious marketing conspiracy). But some shoes, even after having traveled hundreds of miles, often remain in good shape for walking. Neighborhood resident KEN TROUPE a few years ago sprung the idea of collecting runners’ gently worn kicks and redistributing them to homeless folks in need of footwear. Now Dallas runners regular drop shoes off on Troupe’s porch or hold Shoe Guy shoe drives at running events. Like The Shoe Guy & Gals on Facebook for more.

The so-called “sweetest run of the year” takes place Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7 a.m. outside the BATH HOUSE CULTURAL CENTER at White Rock Lake. Entry fee is one batch of cookies, for trading. Runners loop the lake before the cookie swap, so just show up at 8:30 a.m. to skip the 9.2mile exertion. The post-run party is open to all and features eggnog, chocolate milk and more. Bring your used running shoes for The Shoe Guy (see above).