Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Hicks.
Hi Tom, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always loved Christmas. Even as a child, I loved to listen to Christmas music all year round. Growing up in a Pastor’s home, we always celebrated the birth of Jesus as the main focus of our Christmas celebration, but Santa always brought the gifts that were placed under our Christmas tree. The love of Christmas has always stayed with me. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus and I love the feeling of love and joy that we experience at Christmas time.
I grew up to become a Pastor, just like my dad. I have pastored churches in Pensacola, Florida, Lexington, North Carolina, and now in Lakeland, Florida. While I was in North Carolina I found a Santa suit at an estate sale and thought it would be fun to dress up as Santa, so I bought the suit. The church I was pastoring asked me to be Santa for community outreach at Christmas Time, so I put on the suit and a fake beard and played the part of Santa. It was lots of fun! This continued year after year and I was also invited to a few businesses in the area to don the Santa suit and play the part.
In 2009 we moved to Lakeland, Florida to pastor the First Alliance Church. At Christmastime, I was asked to put the suit on for our church event. It seemed to be a huge success. I have done this every year since being in Lakeland. In 2016, my wife thought it would be fun to attend a Santa School, so she enrolled us in a class taught by Santa Tim Connahan, “The National Santa.” The school was in Tampa, so it was a nice weekend to get away and learn more about being a professional Santa.
The course we took was very helpful and we learned a lot about being Santa and Mrs. Claus. At the conclusion of the class, I was hired by Santa Tim to be Santa at some local Sam’s Clubs… my first professional appearance as Santa. It was a wonderful experience as I met with the people who came into the store. I loved seeing the joy and happiness that I was able to bring to young and old alike, as I portrayed the mystical “Santa Claus.”
Having such a wonderful experience in my first professional portrayal of Santa, my wife and I decided that we wanted to do this more and bring the magic of Christmas to children and families. So, we ventured into a journey of reaching out to our community and making ourselves available to be Santa and Mrs. Claus to our community. Little did we realize the way that our business took off! We began being booked all over town for different events.
We continued our Santa education by attending more Santa schools and by joining the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas (IBRBS). We also became involved in the local chapter of the IBRBS, The Palm Tree Santas, which is a group of Santas from all over central Florida. Again, the demand for our appearances has grown tremendously.
We reached out to the city of Lakeland about being Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Lakeland Christmas Parade and beginning in 2017, we have appeared in the Christmas Parade each year. This year (2021) we will also be appearing in the Kissimmee Festival of Lights Parade. Mrs. Claus and I also had the privilege of being Santa and Mrs. Claus at Zoo Tampa for 3 years.
Over the years we have seen thousands of Children and it still brings us great joy to see the excitement and wonder in the eyes of a child when they see Santa or Mrs. Claus. It also brings us joy to see the happiness of the parents as they see their children interacting with us.
Being a full-time pastor and a professional Santa makes December a very busy month. We begin with some photoshoots in November and then, usually after Thanksgiving, begin making personal appearances on almost a daily basis.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been fairly smooth. The struggle is in scheduling so that I can fit everything in. Unfortunately, I do have to decline any requests for appearances as Santa because my schedule is so full.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
First Alliance Church has been on Edgewood Drive in Lakeland since the mid-1960s. First Alliance is a part of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, which has a heart for bringing the good news of Jesus to the world.
One of our focuses in missions is to take the gospel to the most unreached portions of the world.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
We encourage those who are passionate about reaching people for Jesus to join us in completing the Great Commission.
Contact Info:
- Email: watch4santa@gmail.com – pastor.tom@mychurchlakeland.com
- Website: watch4santa.com (and) mychurchlakeland.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Watch4Santa – https://www.facebook.com/FirstAllianceLakeland
Image Credits
Sara Hogan Photography, Tina Sargeant Photography, and The Lakelander Magazine Zoo Tampa
