Santa World Celebrates SILVER JUBILEE
Industry: Events
The Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas invites the entire Santa World to a 3-day party in celebration of our 25th Anniversary: join us for our SILVER JUBILEE REUNION!!
Ontario, CA (PRUnderground) January 8th, 2019
The Santa World’s Oldest & Largest Annual Event!
25th Annual Santa Reunion
https://SilverJubileeReunion.com
Contact: Ric Erwin
Chairman@FORBSantas.com
909.636.1151
Who: The Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas (FORBS, a 501(c)7), welcomes the FOUNDERS Of The Santa World back to the Reunion, as our Guests of Honor.
What: 25th Annual Santa Reunion Weekend:
The Santa World’s Silver Jubilee!
When: Friday, Jan 25th -Sunday, Jan 27th, 2019
Where: Ontario Airport Hotel & Conference Center
• 700 North Haven Ave Ontario, CA 91764 / 909-980-0400•
Why: Each January, as the world recovers from another joyful Holiday Season, the hard-working professionals who made much of that magic happen, gets together for 3 full days– to party & make a little magic happen for themselves!
For the 25th consecutive year, hundreds of professional Santas & Mrs. Clauses from around the country will descend upon Southern California for our annual Santa Reunion— where they will renew old friendships & begin new ones, hone their professional skills, browse the latest & greatest Seasonal fashions, and purchase products & services from other professionals in the Christmas Community.
Some will be familiar to you– from TV, movies, commercials & online ad campaigns!!
Come meet & interview more than 100 REAL Clauses—all in one room.
Has It Really Been A QUARTER-CENTURY Already?
In the late summer of 1994, German mail-order giant Otto Versandt was planning its Fall/Winter catalog. They had landed the world’s biggest super-model (Cindy Crawford) for the cover, and they decided that they were going to produce the year’s most ambitious Christmas commercial, to promote it!
Casting calls went out to talent scouts, bookers & agents throughout the Southwest:
“Santa Claus, full day– must have own costume, and REAL BEARD.”
Ten professional Santas were selected from the hundreds submitted, and on a warm September evening, Universal Studios’ Brownstone Street set was transformed into a winter wonderland.
The theme of the commercial was, “Even SANTA can’t handle all of these bargains!!”
Selected as principal actor, Santa Tom Hartsfield was shown sitting in his sleigh, thumbing idly through the Otto catalog, while the other nine Santas scrambled up and down the snowy sidewalks, bumping into each other as they delivered armfuls of wrapped presents.
Between takes (the shoot lasted more than twelve hours), they did what actors often do: they regaled one another with “war stories” about their favorite & least-favorite acting roles.
In fact, they were getting along so well that someone suggested they “do lunch” sometime —but agreed this “reunion” would have to wait until after their upcoming Christmas Season!
Someone decided their group needed a name, and remembering the casting call they’d each received, Hartsfield suggested the “Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas”—and with that whimsical proclamation by 10 professional actors, the modern Santa World was born…
On the last Sunday in January ’95, they gathered at La Mirada’s Northwoods Inn for their very first “Founders Luncheon”—which was such a success that, to a man, they all agreed to do it again the following year! This next time they met, a couple of the Founders brought a fellow Santa as a guest, and by the third year they were all bringing guests—so the reunions began to grow rapidly!
Somewhere around the 10th Reunion, someone arranged a group outing for the night before the luncheon; and as the Reunion’s media profile grew, they added seminars & workshops on Saturday morning & afternoon to train all of the new Santas who joining from all around the country.
The Vendor Faire began with a couple of Santa suits provided in 2005 by Adele’s of Hollywood for Santa Portraits; the following year Adele’s brought extra merchandise for display, and once again others quickly followed suit! Within a few years, our Vendor Faire had become one of the highlights of the Reunion, expanding to fill both Saturday and Sunday, featuring the products & services needed by all those Santas!
By 2008, the Reunion had become an all-weekend event, welcoming over 300 guests; it was announced that the group would form a 501(c)7 non-profit based in Orange County, and their name was changed to the “FRATERNAL Order of Real Bearded Santas (FORBS)”.
Over the past two and a half decades, our annual reunion has proudly spawned literally countless local, regional and national Santa groups, as well as numerous professional schools, academies and conventions. Along the way, we developed world-class professional benefits– including an inexpensive-yet-comprehensive background check, and the world’s first entertainer’s liability insurance policy which provides protection against allegations of Abuse or Molestation (an absolute must-have for any Santa, in today’s litigious environment).
This Year, We Are Proud To Welcome The
FOUNDERS OF THE SANTA WORLD
as Silver Jubilee Reunion Guests of Honor!
Please join us January 25th-27th, as we celebrate
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SANTA HISTORY!
About Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas (FORBS)
The Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas (FORBS) is a 501(c)7 dedicated to supporting those dedicated individuals who grow & maintain their own beards for the purpose of portraying the most popular character in human history: SANTA CLAUS!
