Hey kids, Soul Santa is coming to town!
The second-annual event — organized with Black, Indigenous and people of color in mind, and open to allies, too — is this Saturday, Dec. 14.
Families can head to Burlington, Rutland and White River Junction for reindeer games, hot chocolate, sweet treats, music and pictures with Black Santa.
The event will also travel to Newport on Saturday, Dec. 21.
Brandon Deputy Town Manager Bill Moore said there can only be one Santa who travels all over the world. But he said as a friend of Santa’s, he can be on the ground in Vermont as Soul Santa.
He first donned the red suit last year.
“There haven't been too many opportunities, really, for me as a person of color, biracial man in Vermont — I haven't got a lot of requests for Santa opportunities,” he said.
But then his sister, Tabitha, and Chittenden County Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale wanted to put together last year’s event — at the last minute. And so Soul Santa Bill was born.
He said that the experience last year was “magical.”
“It was so exciting to see the look on these children's faces and to hear them, you know, trepidation and excitement, and talk about what they wanted for their siblings and for themselves, and how their year had been, whether they'd been good,” Soul Santa Bill said.
He grew up in Rochester, and remembers going to the mall in Rutland to see a white Santa. And he reflected on how empowering it would have been to see a Santa with brown skin.
“Imagery is powerful,” Soul Santa Bill said. “Characters that look like you in movies, you know, Santas that look like you, a president that looks like you — that is affirming for a person of color and a child of color.”
Lanae Jovon Buford agrees. The 15-year-old visited with Soul Santa Bill last year, and it was her first time meeting a Santa who looked like her.
“It felt different, but it also felt right,” she said. “It was joyful. It was wonderful, actually. And I just felt like — I belong there.”
Lanae Jovon added that she usually doesn’t see a lot of BIPOC people where she lives in Franklin County, but that there were a lot of BIPOC people at the event.
“I was home physically. I felt — I felt at peace,” she said. “It was a good feeling.”
It was a good enough feeling that Lanae Jovon will be an elf for this year’s Soul Santa Saturday in Burlington.
Soul Santa Bill will be there too. He’s grown out his hair and beard in preparation.
“I even gained 50 pounds for the role,” he said, laughing. “I'd like to say it was all about Santa, but maybe it was about the carbohydrates, too."
Also preparing to be Soul Santa is Winooski resident Mike Hill Jr., who will be located in White River Junction on Saturday.
“I've been practicing my 'Ho! Ho! Hos!' while I'm driving to work some mornings,” he said. “I've been listening to Christmas music — I like Christmas music in general, but I've been listening to Christmas music a lot more than usual.”
Soul Santa Mike said getting into the Christmas spirit is a somewhat-new tradition for him.
“I grew up actually not having too many Christmases, and really walked into young adulthood not enjoying holidays because of that childhood experience,” he said.
And then he had his son, Elin.
“I had to, like, learn how to reengage or start to enjoy holidays,” he said. “It was like, ‘Hey, gotta actually be a dad.’ And, you know, I've helped my kid believe in Santa.”
Soul Santa Mike said he now sees the holidays through the joy of 9-year-old Elin.
“It's extremely rewarding when you get to break the generational cycle of poverty or trauma, and your child gets to have what you didn't have, and that includes like, holidays where family is together, and he gets to open toys,” he said.
He added: “He’s definitely softened my heart to the point where I’m about to be Soul Santa.”
Both Soul Santas emphasized that the spirit of Christmas — and Santa — is love, care for one another and generosity. And that is for everybody — and can be embodied by anybody.
Bringing more people together for a festive event is the ultimate goal of this year’s Soul Santa Saturday organizer Wynea Buford — Lanae Jovon’s mom.
She said fundraising for this year’s event proved challenging because she didn’t know a lot of BIPOC organizations to contact in Vermont, apart from the New Alpha Missionary Baptist Church she belongs to.
But Buford eventually connected with groups like the Rutland NAACP — and she said she looks forward to expanding her network for the future.
“One day, I would love to bring the opportunity to have a Soul Santa breakfast,” she said. “Bringing the kids together, providing resources, providing the needs, not necessarily the toys, but the needs of community and family, so that they know that annually, there's going to be this event that's going to occur.”
This Saturday’s events will take place from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Contois Auditorium in Burlington, Wonderfeet Kids’ Museum in Rutland and JAM — Junction Arts & Media — in White River Junction.
The Newport event next Saturday will be at the same time, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
Families can get free tickets here.
Have questions, comments, or tips? Send us a message.
