We all know the legend of Santa Claus and how, on Christmas Eve, he leaves his home at the North Pole and travels the globe on his reindeer-drawn sleigh distributing gifts and good cheer to children. It’s a good story, but if anyone meets Santa this year, it’s likely to be at the local mall for a photo op.
But for families visiting Santa at Windward Mall this Christmas, the original story is a bit closer to the truth. At least, it’s about 3,000 miles closer.
Windward Mall’s Santa is played by Isak Soerra, a native of Norway who has come to Hawaii this holiday season to play Santa for the second time. He lives on Meloya, a tiny island off Norway’s spectacular west coast. It’s about 1,700 miles from the North Pole, which is about 3,000 miles closer than Hawaii.
He’s one of several Santas who are making Christmas special for Hawaii residents at local shopping centers this season. For them, the experience is all about making connections with kids and families, lending them an ear and flashing that friendly smile through a thick white beard.
“I’m just excited to be back here,” said Soerra, his eyes twinkling.
His landing here is a story as fanciful as Santa’s, involving music, technology and a lot of fun, but it’s ultimately a story of friendship. He was invited to be Santa by his friends, the Fortunos of Makakilo. Casey Fortuno runs Storybook Entertainment, which provides keiki party services through its shop at Windward Mall and online. She also finds and hires Santas to appear at shopping centers and private functions. One of her most important criteria: “The beard. It has to be real,” she said.
It was her husband, Johnny Fortuno, who made the initial connection with Soerra. They are both Elvis impersonators — Fortuno performs at the Rock-A-Hula show at the Royal Hawaiian Center, and Soerra, an engineer on a ferry boat by day, is a regular at the Norwegian Elvis Festival, an annual event held on Meloya. Johnny Fortuno made a splash competing at the 2014 festival.
“Johnny was our first pick, and he came back two years later,” Soerra said. “Me and him, we just clicked.”
Over the years, the friends would stay in touch using FaceTime, the Apple videophone service, and one day Casey Fortuno saw Soerra had been growing a beard. “She said, ‘Could you come over here and be Santa?’ ” said Soerra, who needs about 10 months to grow a proper Santa beard. “And I said, ‘Why not? It’s an opportunity.’ ”
Last year, he met with about 5,000 local youngsters, posing for photos with them and hearing their stories and wish lists. It seems to provide a moment where everyone can let their guard down, he said, and sometimes the emotion can be overwhelming. He recalled sitting with one 16-year-old girl who didn’t ask for anything except to keep her hours at work steady so that she could continue to help her family while going to school.
“It broke my heart,” he said. “It’s not just sunshine and rainbows.”
In Norway, Santa Claus is known as “Julenisse” — “Jule” means Christmas in Norwegian, and a “nisse” is a term used for small, humanlike creatures of fantasy and fiction, such as gnomes. “He takes care of animals on the farm,” Soerra said. “He also comes with presents, so it’s similar to St. Nicholas.”
Julenisse traditionally walks from home to home with gifts, rather than using a sleigh and reindeer, even though Norway has large number of reindeer. Soerra enjoyed pulling a little joke with that. He was checking in at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, and, aware that with his beard made him look like Santa Claus, told the flight attendant, “This is so hard. Normally I have my own flight, with the sled and reindeer. He was looking at me and looking at me and thinking, ‘What is going on? I can’t wrap my head around this.’”
Role that chooses you
Keith Farr also comes from a distance to be Santa for local families. He lives in Florida, but knows the islands well, having lived in Kailua for 14 years before having to relocate to take care of an ailing family member.
“It wasn’t something I had really thought about,” he said. “I’ve always said it’s not necessarily a role you aspire to, but it’s a role that chooses you.”
“When I was approached and I thought about it, I thought it would be a lot of fun,” he said. “I enjoy watching the joy in the kids’ faces. They believe. They really believe. A few adults do too.”
Farr will be the Santa at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki, the only shopping center on Oahu where professional photos with Santa are free, representatives for the center said.
Farr has been Santa at several events, from fundraisers to private corporate events, but this is his first year at the Royal Hawaiian Center. He got a grand entrance on his first day on the job on Thanksgiving Eve, riding around Waikiki on a trolley before getting ushered into a big crowd at the center’s Royal Grove, but he’s been also been brought in on canoes and boats before. At the Royal Hawaiian Center, there will be a short skit to introduce him. “We get to do some fun things,” he said.
His experience as Santa helps him temper kids’ expectations, which can be demanding. “It’s important that you don’t promise, because you don’t know what Mom and Dad are up to,” he said. “You tell them, ‘Keep being good, and you check the tree on Christmas morning and we’ll see what happens.’”
Although his interactions with kids are perhaps the most touching, he’s surprised at the level of attention that adults give him, especially if they are tourists.
“You get some interesting interactions,” he said. “They’re very, very into Santa — the adults in some cultures. They’ll just look at you and study you. They’re just fascinated.”
Direct communication
One Santa appearance will be so meaningful that organizers wanted his identity kept secret. It is a one-time appearance at Pearlridge Center by Deaf Santa, who will communicate with children through American Sign Language.
The event, the only one of its kind in the islands, has become a tradition at Pearlridge, and this year, several companies are flying in deaf children from other islands for the event. His visit, which will include appearances by deaf performers and often becomes a kind of reunion for Hawaii’s Deaf community, will be held Thursday morning at the former Toys “R” Us building on the corner of Pali Momi Street and Moanalua Road.
“It’s the opportunity for the kids to use their native language to communicate with Santa,” Deaf Santa said in an interview facilitated by an interpreter. “They don’t need to go through a sign-language interpreter. They can have that direct communication with Santa. So it’s an opportunity for them to bond without having a third party.”
Deaf children can feel left out of events where no interpreter is available, he said, and even interpreting services can “limit” a deaf child’s experience.
Appearing as Deaf Santa involves exaggerating his jolly, friendly personality, he said. “I will be signing much bigger signs for the kids, emphasizing certain signs and characteristics of Santa’s behavior, but it will be through American Sign Language.”
It’s a very rewarding experience, he said, to be interacting with children in such a personal way. “It’s just a sense of joy and happiness on both ends,” Deaf Santa said. “You see the impact on the families that come with their parents and grandparents.
“I remember a grandparent came up to me and told me it was something special to see their child have that direct communication with Santa and seeing their eyes wide open. Often … the parents are new to deafness and they have young children, and it brings a whole culture of a sense of belonging and a sense of connection. It’s inspiring that there’s sense of belonging and celebrating the holidays.”
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SANTA APPEARANCES
Windward Mall
>> 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
>> 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays
>> 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays
>> 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22
Through Dec. 24.
Royal Hawaiian Center
5-7 p.m. Saturdays and Wednesdays
Deaf Santa at Pearlridge
10 a.m.-noon Thursday
