The MKE Creatives met up again recently and had a seasonally-appropriate talk with Paul Akert at Anodyne Coffee in Walker’s Point. Paul has been a regular attendee at MKE Creatives, ever since Aurelia introduced him to it. Paul is a former school nurse, a storyteller, a toymaker, a “real-bearded Santa”, and a man of seemingly inexhaustible good energy.
The journey to becoming a Santa began in 2012 for Paul. His son said to him, “Dad, I know what you should do when you retire – you should be a Mall Santa!” Paul heard that comment, didn’t realize his son was joking with him, and replied, “That IS important work and I’d do that, but I want to be trained for it.” And, not long after that, he signed up for a well-known “Santa School” that has been around for 80 years!
Paul attended the C. W. Howard Santa School – considered the “Harvard of Santa Schools”. One part of the school’s rigorous entry program requires all applicants to write an essay on “Why I Want to Be Santa.” The school is a 3-day conference and is open to Santa Clauses, and Mrs. Clauses. They learn lots at Santa School, but what intrigued me the most, is that they also go through the “40 Most Commonly Asked Questions” of Santa, learning how to handle children’s questions about difficult subjects.
While this is the season for Santa (and Paul’s wife is often along as Mrs. Claus), Paul also does some “Green Man storytelling”, performs at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, and is also working on a John Muir-inspired piece. He does some public-Santa-ing, but keeps most occupied with small and private-hire functions. Pretty exciting for Paul was a recent feature in Milwaukee Magazine!
To give us an idea of what his work is like, Paul donned his Santa hat, and told us a short story. He stood at the table’s edge, and with expressive face and hand gestures, told us “The Story of the Miraculous Snowflake.” At the story’s end, it was obvious that Paul is a natural for this work.
Also attending this MKE Creatives, were…
-Johnny, of Orphonic, and his daughter, Charlotte – he does wedding videos and other productions, his business recently joined the WI LGBT Chamber of Commerce;
–Paul, of Creative Strategies, a stock media expert, uses his 15+ years in the stock-image marketplace to help creative businesses find more work;
–John, a local CPA and investment advisor, recently became secretary of the local numismatic society (that’s “coin collecting” for those unfamiliar with the term…);
–Jean, a painter who works in a style inspired by the 15th/16th century Flemish painters, who works out of the Pitch Project – a gallery/studio space – at Brenner Brewing;
-and me – who recently completed portraits for a non-profit’s annual report and a series of portraits for an upcoming magazine story!
