Santa Claus spreads holiday cheer over Zoom from the Eugene YMCA

With his big day nearing, Santa Claus has been busy working remotely to make his list and thoroughly check it twice.

The jolly old elf was dressed for remote work with his signature red hat and coat on top – and shorts and tennis shoes out of view of the camera.

Zooming from a room at the Eugene Family YMCA, Santa Claus, with some help from Corey Anderson, enthusiastically greeted children with a white beard and a fresh cup of cocoa.

For the third year in a row, Anderson, who works as the athletic director at Bushnell University, reprised his role assisting the YMCA’s Zoom Santa in an effort to bring some socially distanced Christmas experiences to kids.

While Zoom Santa initially began as a way to bring holiday cheer amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Santa and Anderson have kept the tradition going even as in-person Santas returned elsewhere.

“What’s super fun is kids – because I’m in Zoom – they will bring me to show me the tree or they’ll bring toys to the screen," Claus said. “I enjoy the Zoom way more because there’s so much more depth to it compared to 50 kids in line waiting to take a picture.”

In addition to hearing Christmas wishes and enquiring whether children believe they’re on the naughty or nice list, Santa seeks out advice for where to land his sleigh and whether there is a chimney he can use to bring presents in through.

“Do you know what Santa’s favorite type of cookie is?” he would ask. “All cookies!” Came his answer after a few guesses.

Mrs. Claus is assisted by Anderson’s wife, Holly Anderson, the senior director of youth programs at the YMCA. She convinced Santa to take up the Zoom role after he had grown out his white beard while quarantining early in the pandemic.

“I learned the No. 1 requirement of being Santa is having a big white beard,” he said.

Santa said it takes about two months to get his beard into peak Christmas shape and he usually trims it off after the holiday is over.

While the initial Zoom Santa schedule has wrapped up for 2022, the YMCA, and Anderson, are trying to schedule a few more dates and times before Christmas.

If more dates are announced, information will be available at eugeneymca.org/events/zoom-santa.

Contact multimedia journalist Ben Lonergan at blonergan@registerguard.com, call 541-214-3136 or follow on Twitter or Instagram @lonerganphoto.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Santa Claus spreads holiday cheer by Zoom YMCA Eugene Oregon