The Santa School

Mere

Over the years, he’s mentored other Santas and been an instructor at Santa schools, teaching others how to follow in his bootsteps.

In 2016, he opened his own school, the Northern Lights Santa Academy, billed as the largest Santa school in the Southeast. In three years, more than 600 students have attended the school’s two- or three-day sessions, held at local hotels in spring and fall. Its stated mission: “To help you be the best Santa, Mrs. Claus or Elf you can be.”

“Being Santa is the biggest responsibility anybody could have,” said Rosenthal, 66, who’s been Santa for the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons since 2013. “People who aren’t huggers hug Santa. They tell you stuff they wouldn’t tell anybody else.”

For Rosenthal — or “Mr. Frozenthal” as kids in his Toco Hills neighborhood like to call him — the Santa life is serious business.

“There’s a Santa industry now,” said Rosenthal, who is a Santa agent, deploying Santas, Mrs. Santas and Elves across the country for jobs throughout the year. “Santas have been around for hundreds of years but it was just anybody in a red suit. A professionally trained Santa is a different animal.”

Rosenthal’s Santa consulting work has attracted an international clientele. In mid-November, he was headed to Hong Kong for the opening of the IFC Mall’s experiential Santa Academy: “Bringing out the Santa in you.” He helped curate and develop the seasonal installation at the high-end mall, part of the International Finance Centre.

In his Northern Lights classes, Santas and professionals from outside the Santa community share their expertise in areas ranging from storytelling, improvisation and magic to social media, makeup and hair, developmental disabilities, contracts and law.

Speaking of law, Santa Rick’s bio mentions that he has an independent background check conducted annually and that he carries a $4 million Santa liability insurance policy.

“We live in a very litigious society,” Rosenthal said. “If a child asks you to pray with him, you could get sued.”

Santa’s life has gotten complicated, but some things never change, such as the impact Santa Claus can have on people. Ansley Johnson, special events coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), has worked with Santa Rick and other volunteers from his team such as Joe “Santa Jeaux” Pridgen, of Buford, for the three years she’s been on the job.

“They’re some of the most generous, kindhearted people, very quick to say yes and quick to give of themselves,” she said. On a typical Christmas Day, CHOA’s Egleston Hospital will have about 200 to 220 patients in its beds, including about 60 babies, she said. Santa helps create a sense of normalcy for families at that time, she said.

Rosenthal would agree. “For centuries, society has relied on Santa to create the magic of Christmas,” he says on his school’s website.

“Santa makes you smile, brings out the best in people,” he said. “Santa provides hope, inspiration and goodwill in the spirit of Christmas — and you don’t have to be Christian to do that.”

A rare breed of Santa

Santa Rick is a rather unusual Santa. He happens to be an Orthodox Jew. Rosenthal said people find that “fascinating for the most part, whether they’re fellow Santas or clients.”

“I’m not going to say that there hasn’t been someone that was not sure how to handle that,” he said. “But for the most part, people think that’s really cool.”

It works for him because he doesn’t see Santa as a religious figure. “I’m a firm believer that Santa is a spiritual guy,” Rosenthal said. “I don’t believe he’s a religious figure. If he was, he would be Catholic, Protestant or Methodist and he would go to that church.”

He has just landed his first ever booking for a Jewish event. A family has hired him to light the Hanukkah menorah. The parents are Russian immigrants who have experienced religious persecution and want their children to be familiar not only with Judaism, but with other religions, Rosenthal said.

“They were thrilled to find out that I was Jewish,” he said.

Rosenthal was a 16-year-old kid at Atlanta’s Briarcliff High School when he decided it would be fun to be Santa. He started by taking bags of little bagels to hang on his friends’ Christmas trees. Over the years, he continued to find opportunities to be Santa while pursuing a life of entrepreneurship that started when he was 6 years old, and raced to help women in his apartment complex carry their groceries.

Seven years ago, after letting his beard grow out, he was in a Home Depot store, near a child who was screaming at his father, who was ignoring him. He looked at the boy and when he saw the way he stared back, he knew the boy was wondering if he was Santa.

Rosenthal seized the opportunity, saying, “Shh, don’t tell anybody you saw Santa at Home Depot buying tools for the elves to make toys.”

“After that, the boy froze,” Rosenthal said, “like he’d had an encounter with an alien.” He decided then that he would make being Santa his full-time career.

A tiny trampoline

One of the most critical topics of class discussion at Northern Lights is communication skills — how to interact with people of all ages and how to “deflect and redirect” when someone makes a tough request.

“You will be asked every horrible thing in life, be totally nonjudgmental.”

He recalled a four-year-old who wanted nothing for himself for Christmas. All he asked Santa Rick for was a tiny trampoline — forming a little circle with one hand to show the size — for his baby brother, who had passed away.

“I told him I would have my elves make a trampoline for his brother…and if we could find heaven, I’d take it to him,”

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Santa Rick’s scheduled public appearances

■ Sundays, Dec. 2, Dec. 9, Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, varying hours. The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta, 915 Ridgewalk Parkway, in Woodstock. Info: theoutletshoppesatatlanta.com.

■ Sunday, Dec. 1, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Seed Factory, in the Westside Provisions District. 1100 Howell Mill Road N.W., Atlanta. Info: seedfactoryatlanta.com.