Santa Norm: Reflecting on decades in red suit

Norm Hanson with John Kinnear at the Bellevue Legion Christmas Party on December 1. Nicholas L. M. Allen photo

For many families in the Crowsnest Pass, Santa does not just live at the North Pole. He has sounded a lot like long time Lions Club volunteer Norm Hanson.

Hanson, who is now eighty two and lives in Pincher Creek, has been putting on the red suit for roughly four decades. In a phone interview he said it all began with simple neighbourhood visits.

“Well probably over 30 years ago started doing the visits at our neighbours and then one of the neighbours would dress up as Santa for my kids too, oh probably 40 years ago now because I’m 82” he said. “And then just continued doing it through the Lions Club, and then it got to where I had done a whole bunch.”

As his appearances grew, Hanson turned his Santa work into a way to give back. Any money that came his way from visits went straight into a project that is still close to his heart.

“And the money we raised, I always give back to the Lions to pay for the Meals on Wheels that they do at Christmas time, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s,” he said. “Because the regular Meals on Wheels, they don’t deliver them days. And I actually was the one that started this Meals on Wheels for the Lions almost 50 years ago.”

Those special holiday deliveries have meant that seniors and shut in residents still receive a hot meal when many services pause for the season. For Hanson, the Santa visits and the meals have always felt connected. Both are about showing up for people who might otherwise be alone.

Over the years he has appeared at Lions parties, community events and private family gatherings, watching entire generations grow up. One family tradition in town has now stretched to three generations.

“I visit one family in town and I started visiting my neighbour’s kids,” he said. “The parents were my age, sort of. And then now I’m doing their kids. And then their kids’ kids.”

Some of his most memorable arrivals have been anything but ordinary. Hanson recalls a time when Santa traded in the sleigh for a helicopter at the old Crowsnest Pass golf course.

“We used to get a Vince Knowles from Fernie who actually brought a helicopter down and picked me up over at the 4th Street and went up over Frank Slide and then flew in towards the golf course where the old clubhouse was,” he said. “Coming down it kind of tipped sideways, and I’d wave at all the kids when they were out on the deck and then landed there. Truly brought the idea if they really believed it was the real Santa that came.”

Another year he crossed the fairway on the back of a snowmobile.

“One time I came across the golf course on the back of a skidoo even and it was pretty neat,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of great things.”

Hanson’s Santa route has covered a wide range of local stops. He has visited kindergartens, long term care and the college and for many seasons he was part of events at the community gazebo and Bellevue Legion.

He said the reactions from both seniors and children have kept him going.

“The seniors are good, eh,” he said. “The seniors, actually, the older ladies that have lost their husbands, they’re just as giddy as some of the young children that you visit, eh.”

Children, meanwhile, tend to scrutinise Santa closely. Hanson said his decision to grow his own beard helped make the magic feel more real.

“They like that I have a regular beard now,” he said. “Rather than the old cotton one that you hang on there because they tend to believe the story better, eh.”

Asked if he has any special rituals to get into character, Hanson said he mostly relies on experience.

“No not really, just practice your ho ho ho,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, no, it’s you get used to doing the same type of thing and they seem to like it.”

This Christmas season he is still planning appearances, including at the Bellevue Legion, but distance and night driving are starting to weigh on him.

“Not really, just enjoy I’ve enjoyed it all these years doing it this is probably my last year,” he said. “Getting living in Pincher’s kind of tough to start driving up to the Pass at night anyhow.”

Whether this is truly his final season or not, Hanson’s time in the red suit has left a mark that extends far beyond a few hours of holiday fun. For nearly half a century he has used Santa visits to support Meals on Wheels and to bring joy to children, parents and seniors across the Crowsnest Pass, one ho ho ho at a time.