When Sidney Runnels gives out his card for his business, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” it lists his title as “Head Elf.”

But anyone who calls the number and asks for a visit from Santa may notice that the jolly man who arrives looks familiar. Beneath the red coat, he appears to share Runnels’ eyes, nose, chin, beard and the rest of his features.

“There’s a lot of kids out there who have never had an opportunity to see Santa Claus,” Runnels told The Dispatch on Dec. 14. “… I do this as a ministry for those children who need a little bit of excitement over something that’s bigger than themselves. That’s how I got started and that led to more and more.”

Runnels started arranging his Santa Claus appearances when he was in his early 20s and living in Canton, where he served as mayor from 1979 to 1994. After leaving Canton, Runnels continued in West Memphis, Arkansas, Grenada and eventually Columbus. He has 50 years of combined experience in the red coat.

Runnels said that over the years, he has learned to balance a certain level of seriousness and jolliness with children, to help bring Santa to life.

But Runnels is not the only one playing a Claus in the city. Edwina Williams picked up her own red coat and Christmas role about 10 years ago.

Williams, often known as “Mother Goose” due to her role as Children’s Librarian at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, started playing “Miz Claus” when she received a red velvet coat from her aunt.

“My aunt, years ago, saw a movie in the 1940s, and it was a Christmas movie with Bing Crosby,” Williams told The Dispatch on Monday. “And they all had on red velvet and white fur. And she was a great seamstress, so she just made a coat. And I do not know if she gave it to me, but I inherited that. And I looked at it one day and just thought, ‘I think that’s a Miz Claus outfit.’”

Williams gave the coat to the late seamstress Ina Walters, who adjusted the coat and made a hat to match it. Williams also came up with her own spelling of the name “Mrs. Claus,” to differentiate herself from others who may play the part.

Within a few years of creating the costume and the character, Williams said, she started riding alongside Santa Claus during the Columbus Christmas Parade. The rest is history.

“I was riding on a truck with The Dispatch,” Williams said. “One day, it stopped in the middle of the parade, and some folks wanted me to still be in the parade, so they took me up on the fire truck with Santa. And I’ve ridden with Santa ever since.”

Still, others use Christmas characters to bring pure fun to the city, particularly downtown.

Midge Maloney, children’s book author, donned the striped tights of an elf a few years ago, and she has kept playing the character every year since.

Maloney said her elf appearances started out as a favor to Barbara Bigelow, director of Main Street Columbus.

Over the course of the year, Maloney said, she also dresses up as the Easter Bunny and Fiona the Flamingo to support other downtown events. All the costumes, Maloney said, feel like a way she gives back. And making children happy is a part of that mission.

“Being an elf and that sort of thing, I think it’s giving back to the community,” Maloney said. “We want people to remember the downtown area, and even if it’s a picture of their kids with an elf or their kids with Santa, they’ll remember our downtown area and they’ll come back.”

Creating the magic

But putting on a costume and convincing children of a character’s legitimacy are separate stories. Runnels, Williams and Maloney all agreed that it takes using your imagination to get kids excited about the Christmas season.

Runnels takes the approach of telling stories, often with great detail, about the North Pole.

“Mrs. Claus called me up the other day and asked, ‘Santa, where are the elves?’” Runnels said, as Santa. “And I said, ‘They should be in the workshop!’ And we went out to the front porch and called out for them and all of the elves popped up out of the snow. Can you believe that?”

Maloney said she tries to come up with an elf name, like “Jingles” or “Bella,” which often helps children to remember her year after year, and makes her character more convincing.

Williams has a different approach. She does not try to hide her identity at all in costume, disclosing that she is Mother Goose dressed as Miz Claus on the front end. This helps to eliminate any confusion kids may have, since they may know her from either role.

But, when Williams is dressed as Miz Claus, she will often sing and make up jingles, along with reading Christmas books for children like “The Polar Express” or “The Christmas Crocodile.” And she makes up her own Christmas stories, too.

“I just tell them that Rudolph had that bad cold and his nose turned red and the elves are trying to get him well so he can lead the sleigh,” Williams said.

A complicated Christmas

While these stories are often enough to convince children, some still need more encouragement to not be nervous around Santa, Miz Claus or an elf.

Runnels said he sees alleviating these fears as a challenge, trying to help them come up and talk to Santa. To make children feel more at ease, he said, he uses his regular voice, softly, to not overwhelm them.

Similarly to Runnels, Williams said she always tries to start off with a soft voice and not rushing up to kids, in case they’re scared at first. She often tries to give them gentle compliments to help them build their confidence.

Maloney said she also keeps a distraction on hand, to help children not focus on their nervousness.

“That’s why you keep a bag of candy canes,” Maloney said. “You have to keep a bag of candy or a bag of candy canes, and you just distract them a little bit. … It calms them down. And you can sing a little.”

But fear is not the only emotional challenge Christmas characters face. Runnels said his years of experience have lent him another skill: knowing when children are unhappy.

“My heart can bleed when I see certain ones to come. I can feel them (on my lap) and know that they’re happy or they’re not, just by their talking and their expressions and their demeanor,” Runnels said.

Runnels said he tries to be particularly gentle with children who may be unhappy, for one reason or another, to give them a happy Christmas memory.

Physically, Maloney said, dressing up as a character also has its challenges. Costumes can be hot and sometimes crowds can become overwhelming. But ultimately, the excitement becomes fun for her, as well as others.

Runnels, Williams and Maloney all said they look forward to getting to play their characters year after year.

“I enjoy it,” Maloney said. “It’s kind of sad when Christmas is over and you can’t be an elf anymore, because if you are, people will think you’re nuts. But you just miss it and look forward to the next thing you get to do.”

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