Cherokee Resident Inducted into Santa Claus Hall of Fame

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Ball Ground resident Tim Cavender has been inducted into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame. 

The ceremony was held April 17 in Albion, New York, which is the birthplace of Charles Howard, who appeared as Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1948 to 1965.

The International Santa Claus Hall of Fame is the home of the celebration and study of famous Santa Clauses and Mrs. Clauses of the past and present. This ongoing project preserves the historical documentation of the many men and women who have greatly contributed to the Legend of Santa Claus.

The International Santa Claus Hall of Fame is dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, the fourth century bishop known for his great deeds of generosity. He is the basis for the Santa Claus Legend.

Cavender, who has portrayed Santa Claus for over 40 years, was one of six in the world that has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Cavender carries two integral traits with him: his concern for children and a deeply rooted faith in the “reason for the season,” said his wife Pam, who also portrays Mrs. Claus and presented him with the award on Friday night.

Another inductee that has ties to a Georgia company is Haddon Sundblom. Sundblom is best remembered for his advertising work, specifically the Santa Claus advertisements he painted for The Coca-Cola Company in the 1930s. His Santa Claus paintings firmly established the larger-than-life, grandfatherly Claus as a key figure in American Christmas imagery.

The images are so popular they are still used by Coca-Cola to this day. Sunbloom, who passed in 1976, is often credited for having created the modern image of Santa Claus. During their week in Albion, the Cavenders were also knighted into the Knights of St. Nicholas.

“As Knights of Saint Nicholas they are called to a higher Santa Claus experience,” said Phil Wenz, the coordinator of the event.

The Santas were blessed with manna, a liquid that comes from the bones of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy. The Rev. Richard Csizmar of Holy Family Catholic Church blessed the manna on Thursday during a mass in Albion at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church.

Wenz went on to say that the knighting program isn’t a Catholic or Protestant effort, but a push “to keep Christ in Christmas.”

The initial selection process for the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame was developed by a legal firm in Des Moines, Iowa. Profiles of past and current Santas were given to a panel of columnist from news media outlets across the North American continent.

The Santa profiles included an overview of the Santa’s career and supporting documentation; no names, dates, country of origin or internet presence was included and no distinction between large cities or small villages was made.

The candidates were held to a criteria including, over all career, service to their community or company, range of appearances, contribution to the Santa world, length of service, uniqueness of career, originality and charity.

Some of the previous inductees to the Hall of Fame include Edmund Gwenn, who portrayed Santa in the 1947 motion picture called Miracle on 34th Street, Mickey Rooney, who was the voice of Santa in the 1970 stop motion production of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Charles W. Howard, who established the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School which today is the oldest continuously-run Santa school in the world and James Edgar, who was the first department store Santa Claus.

Pam Cavender submitted the nomination for his induction into the Hall of Fame. The International Santa Claus Hall of Fame exhibit is located inside the historic Santa’s Candy Castle in Santa Claus, Indiana.

When he’s not portraying the Jolly Old Elf, Cavender is the public affairs director for Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services. 

Photo credits: Tim Cavender