Merry Christmas and Santa Claus in the news
Christmas and Santa Claus go together like macaroni and cheese. As a parent or guardian, you likely grew up with Christmas Santa visits. Are you unable to go visit Santa Claus with children, due to social distancing? This real Santa Claus is available to visit you virtually! Anybody can be a virtual Santa Claus. This is not just a phone number to call real Santa Claus; this is a real Santa Claus interacting live with your children in real time from the safety of your home.
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What does it take to be Santa? We asked someone behind the beard from St. Francis
Shane Linskey of St. Francis starts getting into character at the end of September.
Maybe you have seen him around at Christmastime? Red suit with white trim, white hair and a beard, and a bit on the portly side.
“I have to bleach my hair and beard a few times before the season starts just to get it white enough,” he said.
He makes sure his seven Santa suits are ready to go, and that he has enough gloves to make it to the end of December. “I usually go through more than a couple dozen (gloves) each season,” he said.
His suit is made up of a jacket, hat, belt, belt buckle, pants, fur boots, glasses and gloves. On some Saturdays, he said he’ll be in his gear from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with multiple events.
“It takes a lot for Santa to be in the suit everyday,” he said.
Second generation
He should know. After having been an elf for 31 years, Linskey took over the family business.
His parents, Martin and the late Jackie Linskey, had portrayed Santa and Mrs. Claus since he was 8 or 9 years old.
While the Linskey family was living in Valparaiso, their family friends threw a Christmas party. “They thought it would be great to have Santa at their family gathering,” Shane Linskey said. They asked Martin Linskey to play him, and gave him a fake beard, baseball cap and red jacket.
“The first year, my dad just helped out a family friend,” he said. “But, the next year, he started doing it more professionally with his own suit. It grew into a pretty cool thing.”
Throughout the years, the Linskeys visited organizations, family parties, schools, hospitals, and participated in parades, he said. As an elf, he drove his parents to venues, helped them inside, organized the children and got them ready to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
In 2005, Martin and Jackie Linskey had to hang up their hats for health reasons.
And, in 2006, Shane Linskey picked up his dad’s profession. “As I went with him and saw the joy he brought to children of all ages; it was neat,” he said.
That first year, “Santa Shane” did mall and private visits. “Being at the mall was great,” he said. “A lot of children who were very happy to see me every day were there.”
The following year, he got into corporate events. “I like to interact with the clients that I see, whether they’re children or adults,” he said. “At the mall, it was more fast-paced photo shoots, and that’s all. You didn’t really get to interact with the children as much.”
From Dec. 1 to 25, “Santa Shane” is doing 30 to 40 corporate events, in-home visits, Christmas lighting ceremonies and festivals.
In the past, he has traveled as far as Madison and the Chicagoland area, but typically serves Bay View, Bayside, Brown Deer, Cudahy, Fox Point, Franklin, Glendale, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, River Hills, Saint Francis, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, Waukesha, West Allis, West Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay.
Playing the part does come with rules.
Kids say the darndest things
“Children ask for everything when they see Santa Claus,” Linskey said. A little boy was going to be visiting Disney World after Christmas one year, which he had done many times.
Linskey said the kid remembered he wasn’t tall enough to ride all of the rides the last time. So, his special request was for Santa to make him 2 inches taller.
“In children’s eyes, they see me as Santa Claus,” he said.
When kids ask “Santa Shane” where he lives, he said he tells them, “a little town called St. Francis” because it’s easy to land his sleigh at the airport.
If you’ve always wondered what Santa’s favorite cookie is, Linskey would say chocolate chip. But, if there’s no time for baking, he said, Oreos work just as well.
.
When kids ask for expensive “toys” like laptops or phones, he tells them the elves were having trouble getting the “thingamajigs into the doohickies,” but they’ll try to get one in the sleigh.
“Some of my answers are reality based,” he said. “And, I would never promise anything to a child that they asked for for Christmas.”
If you’re wondering how “Santa Shane” comes up with these answers on the spot, he said he’s had a lot of experience dealing with children. He did in-home childcare for 17 years and taught infant sign language in day cares, he said. He also has two kids of his own.
The off-season
When Christmastime is over, Linskey trims his beard, colors it back to brown, then flies somewhere warm.
“I need a little downtime after the season,” he said. Last year, he went to the Florida Keys, and this year, he’s thinking Texas or Arizona.
In addition to running his Santa business, Santa’s Ready, Linskey has a marketing company, My Friend Promoting You, a business that provides virtual technological assistance, My Friends Virtual Assistant, and a cabin at Christmas Mountain in the Wisconsin Dells, which is under My Friends Log Cabin.
“I’m a true entrepreneur,” he said. For more information on “Santa Shane,” visit santasready.com
Meet “Santa Shane” at: Amazing Seasonal Events to Find Santa Claus
Update: this year:
The following is an update to previous news articles:
This real Santa Claus prepares year around for the Christmas season. However, the really serious prep to become Santa starts for Shane Linskey in September.
Perhaps you have seen him around at Christmastime? Real Santa Claus suit with white trim, with white hair this real beard Santa Claus is also a bit on the portly side.
“I have to bleach my hair and beard a few times before the season starts just to get it white enough,” Linskey admits.
Shane makes sure his seven Santa suits are ready to go. Each suit is made up of a jacket, hat, belt, impressive brass belt buckle, pants, fur lined boots, glasses and white gloves. On some Saturdays, he said he is in gear for more than 10 hours going from event to event.
Part of the prep includes making sure his inventory of white gloves is sufficient to last through the Christmas season. “I usually go through more than a couple dozen sets of gloves each season,” he said.
“It takes a lot for Santa to be in the suit every day,” Santa Shane says.
Second generation
The only way to be promoted to Santa is to start at the bottom and work your way up to head elf. After having been an elf for 31 years, Linskey took over the family business.
His parents, Martin and the late Jackie Linskey, had portrayed Santa and Mrs. Claus since he was 7 years old.
While the Linskey family was living in Valparaiso, their family friends threw a Christmas party. “They thought it would be great to have Santa at their family gathering,” Shane Linskey said. They asked Martin Linskey, Shane’s father, to play Santa. What started out with a fake beard, baseball cap and red jacket, grew into what would become a second-generation business, lasting more than 40 years and still ho-ho-ho’ing!
“The first year, my dad just helped out a family friend,” he said. “But, the next year, he started doing it more professionally with his own suit. It grew into a pretty cool thing.”
Throughout the years, the Linskey’s visited organizations, family parties, schools, hospitals, and participated in parades. As an elf, Shane drove his parents to venues, helped them inside, organized the children and got them ready to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
In 2005, Martin and Jackie Linskey had to hang up their hats for health reasons.
In 2006, Shane Linskey picked up his dad’s profession. “As I went with him and saw the joy he brought to children of all ages; it was neat,” he said. That first year, “Santa Shane” did mall and private visits. “Being at the mall was great,” he said. “A lot of children who were very happy to see me every day”
The following year, Linskey got into corporate events. “I like to interact with the clients that I see, whether they’re children or adults,” he said. “At the mall, it was more fast-paced photo shoots, and that’s all. You didn’t really get to interact with the children or adults as much.”
Each year, from December 1 to December 25, you will find Santa Shane doing upwards of 30 to 40 corporate events, in-home visits, Christmas lighting ceremonies and festivals.
Real Beard Santa Claus travels from Madison, Wisconsin to Milwaukee Wisconsin, and areas in-between. Having traveled as far as Chicago for Santa visits, Santa Shane prefers the areas around Milwaukee and Madison as he can visit more people by remaining local.
Playing the part does come with rules.
Kids say the darndest things
“Children ask for everything when they see Santa Claus,” Linskey said. A little boy was going to be visiting Disney World after Christmas one year, which he had done many times.
Linskey said the kid remembered he was not tall enough to ride all of the rides the last time. His special request was for Santa to make him 2 inches taller.
“In children’s eyes, they see me as Santa Claus,” Santa Shane said.
When kids ask “Santa Shane” where he lives, he tells them he shares his time between Milwaukee and Madison, both having large enough airports for the sleigh, when not at the North Pole. If you have always wondered what Santa’s favorite cookie is, Linskey would say chocolate chip. However, if there is no time for baking, he said, Oreos work just as well.
.
When kids ask for expensive “toys” like laptops or phones, he tells them the elves were having trouble getting the “thingamajigs into the doohickeys,” but they will try to get one in the sleigh.
“Some of my answers are reality based,” he said. “And, I would never promise anything to a child that they asked for for Christmas.”
If you are wondering how “Santa Shane” comes up with these answers on the spot, he said he has had a lot of experience dealing with children. He did in-home childcare for 17 years, where he taught infant sign language. He also has two kids of his own.
Christmas and Santa Claus - The off Season
The off-season
When Christmastime is over, Linskey trims his beard, colors it back to brown, then flies somewhere warm.
“I need a little downtime after the season,” he said. One year he went to the Florida Keys, and another year Puerto Rico. This year will find him somewhere warm in January.
In addition to running his Santa business, Wish4Santa, Linskey has a marketing company, My Friend Promoting You, a business that provides virtual technological assistance, as well as a cabin rental business at Christmas Mountain in the Wisconsin Dells, which is under My Friends Cabin. “I’m a true entrepreneur,” he said. For more information on “Santa Shane”
Its tough to find a real, real Santa Claus in today’s world. However, Wisconsin residents, look no further. You have found the real, real Santa Claus.
Wish4santa.com/links
This Season - Christmas and Santa Claus
What Santa is up to this Christmas season
You can have Santa come to your home or business this Christmas Season.
Santa will be making apperances Live and Virtually this Christmas season.
You can Visit Santa Shane in the Milwaukee or Madison Wisconsin areas.
Throughout the Milwaukee area, Santa Shane will be visiting Sendik’s Grocery Stores
Sunday December 6th
Sendik’s Food Market at The Corners of Brookfield
Sunday December 6th 11am to 12:30pm
20222 Lower, Union St, Brookfield, WI 53045
Sendik’s Food Market Elm Grove
Sunday December 6th 1pm to 2:30pm
13425 Watertown Plank Rd, Elm Grove, WI 53122
Sendik’s Food Market New Berlin
Sunday December 6th 3pm to 4:30pm
3600 S Moorland Rd, New Berlin, WI 53151
Santa is making virtual Home Visits this Christmas
Saturday December 12th
Sendik’s Food Markets Meadowbrook
Saturday December 12th 3pm to 4:30pm
701 Meadowbrook Rd, Waukesha, WI 53188
A few of my favorite Puns:
- “Your presents is requested.”
- “But wait—there’s myrrh.”
- “Sleigh my name, sleigh my name.”
- “Hold on for deer life.”
- “Yule be sorry.” if you’re not on “My” nice list… Ho Ho Ho
Sunday December 13th
Sendik’s Food Market Grafton
Sunday December 13th 10am to 11:30am
2195 1st Ave, Grafton, WI 53024
Sendik’s Food Market West Bend
Sunday December 13th 12:30pm to 2pm
280 N 18th Ave, West Bend, WI 53095
Virtual Home Visits with Santa Claus
Santa loves to visit good girls and boys. Stay right in your home and Santa will video chat with you and your children. Do you have family spread across the world? No problem, they too can join in on the video call and watch as Santa visits your home virtually through Microsoft Teams.
Sunday December 20th
Sendik’s Food Market Franklin
Sunday December 20th 10am to 11:30am
5200 W Rawson Ave, Franklin, WI 53132
Sendik’s Food Market Greenfield
Sunday December 20th 12:30pm to 2pm
7901 W Layton Ave, Greenfield, WI 53220