As Christmas is only a few days away, the Platte County Citizen is excited and proud to announce an exclusive interview with Santa Claus.
Santa, who also goes by the name Kevin Boydston, spends his time in his homes at the North Pole and his summer home just south of Platte City.
Twenty-five years ago when Santa landed his sleigh in Platte City on Christmas morning, he loved the town so much he decided he wanted to live here, as well as the North Pole, since the kids in Platte County were so kind and good.
He chose to use his ‘muggle’ name in Platte City so that he could start a business, KTB Performance. He and Mrs. Claus also work year-round with a non-profit organization called “Santa America” that provides time with Santa for children suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), children and families in grief and bereavement, kids with chronic pediatric illness and autism, special-needs children and kids in hospice care.
While Santa is swamped with delivering presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, he is available the rest of the year for visits. When he is in his summer home in Platte City his travels usually are within a 50-mile radius of the town. He recently made a trip to Wichita, Kan. to visit a child with a brain tumor.
COVID-19 has slowed the visits down. In a typical year he and Mrs. Claus do between 80 and 90 events from mid-November to the first of the year, and also a couple of Christmas in July events.
When asked what a normal visit with children would be like Santa said, “I don’t think you can say there is a normal visit as each child in a group is different. However, in a home visit, I do a few magic tricks and read a story and listen to what the children want for Christmas and take photos. For large groups where I will see between 100 and 400 children in one night it is usually just listening to their wishes and taking photos.”
Santa strongly advises against forcing a child to see him or sit on his lap. “I know everybody thinks its funny to have a screaming child on Santa’s knee, but that can be very traumatizing to a child. Let the child warm up to Santa on their own. I work very hard to make it a pleasant experience for the child.”
The things Santa loves most about his job are the warm hugs, the smiles, the sparkle in the children’s eyes and the giggles. “I like seeing the kids connect with me and Mrs. Claus where they can tell us anything. This is absolutely the best job. There are not many jobs where you get to hear a child’s dreams and wishes.”
Santa’s advice for kids who want to make sure they stay off the naughty list includes doing at least one nice thing each day, working hard in school, minding adults who are in charge of them, cleaning their rooms, helping around the house and not picking on siblings.
Christmas lists to Santa still include cars, trucks, dolls and Legos, but over the last few years popular requests have been the Nintendo Switch, drones and LOL Dolls.
One of the most common questions Santa is asked by kids is if his beard is real. It is most definitely real, and although it takes a lot of grooming Santa is proud of it.
He also gets asked if Rudolph is his favorite reindeer. “Well, that’s a silly question because I love all the reindeer equally,” Santa said.
When asked about his most memorable moments, Santa said this is a difficult question because there have been so many.
“I would say the ones that are most memorable are when your heart strings get pulled,” Santa said. “A few years back I was doing an event where a child kind of stood off, she was watching all the other children visit with me telling me their wishes. After the last child left my knee she walked up to me and said, ‘Santa can we talk?’ At first she did not look me in the eye. She climbed up on my knee and we talked about how her mom was sick and how she wanted her mom to get better. Then she talked about how she was being bullied at school because she had been homeless and other things. She touched my heart. I wanted to take her home and so did the other adults within ear shot. After our visit we made arrangements to help her in whatever way we could. The group that organized the event told us that her mother was in the hospital and they would not let her go back to see her mom, so she was staying with one of the group’s volunteers and that they would talk to the school about her being bullied. So all that being said it all worked out. Her mom got better and they got a place to live. Then there are children that see me on a regular basis when we are out and about all year long, and I had better be ready, because they will come running and jump in my arms.”
While Santa spends most of his time working to ensure that kids all around the world have a very merry Christmas, he also admits that he has a sweet tooth. He loves it when kids leave cookies and milk for him on Christmas Eve. His last comment in this exclusive interview was, “Before anyone asks, I have not met a cookie I do not like.”
For more information about KTB Performance call 560-4015 or visit santa@ktbperformance.com