Here comes Santa Claus
From a fun holiday activity for his children to a Trussville Yuletide tradition, Creed Stone has more than 30 years of experience playing everyone’s favorite man in the red suit.
Stone began playing Santa on his son’s first Christmas, the Christmas of 1984. He built a platform in his front yard with lights and rocking chairs, and although a few friends and neighbors stopped by the first night, by the end of the week his street was full of traffic jams of people trying to bring their Christmas wishes to St. Nick.
After playing Santa at his home for a few years, Stone transitioned into doing cookies or breakfast with Santa events and photography sessions, which has now transformed into the holy grail of holiday cheer: getting to play Santa in a Christmas parade.
This will be Stone’s third time appearing in the annual Trussville Christmas parade, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.
As Santa, Stone sits atop a fire truck, waving to children, friends and family, and tossing candy to parade-goers. Although this is the bulk of his job on that particular day, Stone said his favorite part of the parade, or any event for that matter, is the one-on-one interactions with the children.
“I like spending time with the kids one-on-one and getting to know them,” Stone said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Stone has been playing Santa for so long that in order to keep up with all of the exchanges he has with the children, he started keeping a notebook to record the moments that make him laugh or touch his heart.
“The first time I went to the Boys and Girls Club in Hueytown, about 260 kids came to see me,” Stone said. “I noticed two little girls in line holding hands, and you could tell by the way they were dressed they came from different backgrounds, different socioeconomic settings. I asked the first girl what she wanted for Christmas, and she said she didn’t want anything. I said, ‘Surely you can think of something you want from Santa.’ She shook her head and said, ‘I don’t want anything from Santa, but that’s my friend down there, and I want you to bring her anything she wants.’”
Stone also recalls visiting the hospital when his mother-in-law had open-heart surgery, and he showed up after work wearing a green Carhartt jacket and a red cap. His wife had asked him to go out to the car to get something, and once in the elevator Stone remembers a 6-year-old girl who stood in front of him and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Stone said the girl proceeded to tell him everything she wanted for Christmas.
“The mom said, ‘You don’t know that man,’ and the little girl said, ‘I do, too!’ When her mother turned around she realized why her daughter was talking to me. I got the hint she was a single parent so when they got off the elevator I gave her a hug, and it made her night.”
Stone said the one thing people should know about being Santa is that parents shouldn’t try to dissuade their children from talking to him when they see him in public.
“Parents get so upset when kids act up, and they want to come see me, but it’s perfectly all right,” Stone said. “There’s an age group that doesn’t want anything to do with me, so I tell them not to get upset or apologize.”
In addition to attending events as Santa and doing photography sessions, Stone also does home visits for families that request Santa at their Christmas parties.
“I get to hand out presents and read the Christmas story,” Stone said. “That means a lot.”
Outside of playing Santa, Stone enjoys spending as much time with his family as possible, as well as hunting, fishing, traveling and other outdoor activities. Stone has been married for 35 years and has two sons, ages 31 and 40.