Being the Big Guy

Michael Monte is used to being in charge — the gregarious 57-year-old is the chief operating officer of the Champlain Housing Trust [1], an affordable-housing nonprofit. Before that, he was director of Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office [2].

But nothing in his work life compares to the one day a year he gets to play Santa Claus for the Polar Express, an annual fundraiser for the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation [3] that took place last week. It’s based on the children’s book The Polar Express, in which a young boy doubts the existence of Santa, then embarks on a magical Christmas Eve train ride to the North Pole. Permitted to request a gift, he asks Santa for a simple silver bell from a reindeer’s harness.

In VCTF’s version, whole families wearing pajamas board a Vermont Railway train near the King Street ferry dock. They ride to South Burlington, have cookies and hot chocolate, then head back to Union Station, where about 70 exuberant “elves” — many of them local middle and high school students — wave and welcome them to the “North Pole.” A pajama-clad man reads Chris Van Allsburg’s book; at the end, Santa himself appears, and the crowd goes wild. He leads them upstairs, where each child gets a silver bell to take home.

It’s an impressive production involving more than 700 volunteers. The 3600 riders make up eight trainloads on Saturday and Sunday; there’s a different Santa each day. VCTF co-executive director Fagan Hart estimates that this year’s event raised close to $90,000 to fund programs for children and families. Riders also donated nearly 1000 children’s books.

Hart picked Monte to be a Santa three years ago “because he’s awesome,” she says. “He loves kids … and he’s supremely chatty and social.” Seven Days talked to Monte as he prepared for his Sunday shift.

SEVEN DAYS: What’s it like being Santa?
MICHAEL MONTE: Physically, it’s a tough little job. I mean, it’s not, like, overwhelming, but from about 11:30 or 12 until about eight o’clock, you get about 20 minutes of rest an hour, but then you’re basically ringing bells, standing up there, hugging kids, picking kids up. There’s a lot of that kind of stuff.

And by about 7:30, you’re going [sighs heavily]. You start to breathe a little deeper to make sure you can generate the last little bit of it.

But the great thing is that the kids are just so … I mean, I told Fagan that if she was really smart, she would auction off the Santa job, find a sponsor. I mean, they get to play Santa. How incredible is that?

SD: What’s so great about playing Santa?
MM: In this context, the kids get a great story; they live this beautiful little fantasy, which is sweet, and about believing, and that’s inspiring in some way. It’s not about a commercial exchange. It’s not Xboxes. It’s a little bell, and it’s a hug.

Every kid that goes by here, almost every kid wants a hug. And every mom or dad wants a handshake or a little squeeze. And I’m a hugger, so this is great for me.

SD: It’s so sweet that kids really want a hug, but are there kids who ask you for other things?
MM: Every once in a while, there’s a “Hi, how are you, Santa, did you get my list? Are you going to be able to get me that ba-ba-ba?” And I usually don’t know what to say at the moment. It’s usually a little hug, and “Sweetie, talk to your mom. We’ll see what we can do” [laughs].

SD: Do kids ever try to pull off your beard?
MM: I have to watch out. I can tell if somebody’s rambunctious and I have to sort of protect my gear, meaning my beard, my hat, my stuff. So, I have to make sure I’m holding it like this [pantomimes hugging a beard to his chest].

And Mrs. Claus is there. Mrs. Claus is essential to Santa’s success. I don’t actually hand kids the bell. You were here yesterday. Did the Santa hand you a bell?

SD: Yeah. I brought my son, who’s 4 and very shy. He didn’t look at Santa, but, Santa handed him a bell and said, “Merry Christmas, Graham,” because he had a name tag. I thought he had a terrible time because he was so shy. But he said, “I can’t believe we saw the real Santa! And he knew my name!”
MM: So you say, why is it good? It’s like playing a god, you know? It’s like playing a saint to these little children.

SD: How do you prepare for that and get in character?
MM: It’s not that hard. I do have to think about projecting my voice, because I sort of talk fast and mumble. But once I put the boots on and the hat on and stuff, everything disappears. I feel more Santa-like.

Then I run up the stairs, and each kid comes. I usually try to get on the ground a little bit, so that Santa’s not so tall. And if the kid is too shy, I get on one knee and put my arms out…

I usually play off what the parents are thinking they need and want anyway, because it’s really about them also getting a good moment for themselves. It’s about the photos a little bit. They’re going to remember this more than the kids are [laughs], right?

SD: So, what do you want for Christmas?
MM: I’ve been wanting a motor scooter, but it’s much too expensive [laughs].

SD: Maybe Santa will bring it to you.