By Maddie Remund
After years of creating Christmas magic for others, Dana Darger reflects on what Santa has given him.
He wasn’t particularly interested in meeting Santa. At a Christmas party organized for the local autism community and their families, a young man sat at the far-end of a four-foot bench as he talked with Dana Darger — Santa. By the end of the conversation, he had moved closer, holding Dana’s hand. They had simply connected.
Afterward, Dana learned from the young man’s mother that he really wanted a top hat, but it wasn’t something the family could afford. Through connections he had made working as a Director of Pharmacy at Monument Health, Dana was able to get him one for Christmas.
Two years later, that same young man came to see Santa in a front yard — the very place Dana’s journey as Santa had begun. Dana barely recognized him. But the young man remembered. “Are you the Santa that gave me the top hat?” he asked. Then a huge hug. For Dana, moments like that are the greatest gifts of wearing the red suit.
Suitably Santa
“Becoming Santa started as a joke,” Dana explained with a chuckle. Every year, his friend and former coworker, Denny, transforms his home into a huge Christmas light display, adding new decorations to the collection each season. After one holiday, Denny purchased a huge, wooden Santa chair, and Dana’s initial thought was that Denny had to be the one to don the red suit and sit in it. But after weeks of trying to convince him, he took on the task himself. It’s there in Denny’s front yard, nestled in between the lights and decorations, that families can stop and see Dana during the holidays.
And perhaps the role wasn’t as much of a stretch as it first seemed. Even if it involved more than “making a list and checking it twice.”
“Santa is family stuff,” Dana said. “I grew up in a big family and family is very important to me.” His mother worked as a nurse and his father as a firefighter, both spending their careers caring for people in their community. Christmas at home wasn’t necessarily about having the biggest pile of gifts under the tree. There weren’t always a lot of gifts, but there was never a shortage of Christmas spirit. For Dana, that’s what made the holidays special — the people and traditions.
Lessons from the Lap
Dana doesn’t believe becoming Santa has changed who he is. “I’ve always been this person,” he shared. Instead, it’s just brought out a part of him that’s been there all along. Over the years, that understanding has become the foundation for the way Dana approaches Santa.
Dana believes that Santa is not simply a role to play. “You have to be Santa,” he said. “And that’s sort of a sacred trust.” In other words, you have to become the person children believe is sitting in that chair. Take for instance how kids are extremely difficult to read, which makes it hard to predict what they might say. “Your thinking has to be quick,” Dana laughed. “Because they’re going to ask you things that you’re not ready for.” The answer must always align with the values of Santa — honesty, kindness, and above all, hope.
That’s a value that Dana deems worth protecting. Thousands of children sit in his chair asking for things that are impossible, unlikely or outside his control. Yet Dana has never let those moments take away a child’s imagination, but instead looks for a way to keep the door of hope open. “I can’t promise a child that they’re going to get what they ask me for,” he explained. “But I want them to leave with the hope that they’re getting what they’re asking me for.” The mission is to honor belief without taking advantage of it.
However, if Dana has learned anything from his time wearing the red suit, it’s that children don’t need much convincing to believe in something bigger than themselves. They believe with a total certainty that adults often grow out of. “It’s that total belief in the power that Santa has,” he shared, that has helped him come to appreciate the power that kind of certainty can hold.
Christmas Connections
For all the questions children bring to Santa’s chair, it’s the connections between them that Dana remembers most. “It’s not about hurry up and get the picture taken,” he added. “For me, it’s about hurry up and connect with this child who’s sitting here with me.” The goal is simple: connect with them, talk to them and spend time with them.
Families aren’t the only ones who look forward to those magical moments when the holidays roll around; Dana does too. “I feel so good every night when I walk away from there,” he said. “Knowing that I’ve had a good impact on these kids’ lives and parents too.” Each interaction is a small reminder of what Christmas is all about, whether it’s a child’s excitement, a parent’s smile or an unexpected hug that says more than words ever could.
For someone who once thought becoming Santa was a joke, Dana’s discovered that the role has given him something much more meaningful than a place to sit on a cold night. It has given him a front-row seat to the best parts of Christmas — and a reason to keep believing in them too.
Get to know Dana
- Favorite Christmas movie: Miracle on 34th Street
- Favorite Christmas cookie/treat: Peanut brittle
- Favorite Christmas song: ‘Silent Night’ or ‘O Holy Night’
- Real tree or fake tree: “I prefer real, but I’m allergic to them”
- Early or last-minute shopper: “Early, because we make a lot of our Christmas presents”
- Wrapping or gift bags: “Wrapping at Christmas and gift bags the rest of the year”