***Editor’s note: This story was written before weather forced the cancellation of the Christmas Walk Parade and the relocation of Santa’s landing to Marblehead High School on Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. For the updated schedule, click HERE.
His counterpart—retired National Grand Bank employee Laura Best—knew what to expect.
But she kept quiet, not wanting to spoil the surprise for Bruce Whear.
“When we came around the corner and could hear the roar of the crowd, it was like a kid coming up the tunnel at Fenway Park and seeing the Green Monster for the first time,” Whear says of his maiden voyage across Marblehead Harbor aboard the Sea Hooker, captained by Barnacle Restaurant owner Jay Sahagian, as “Santa’s special assistant.” “It was that big of a deal.”
Patrick and Catherine, shown at last year’s Christmas Walk. COURTESY PHOTO
But just because Whear knows what to expect in his fourth turn as Kris Kringle’s Christmas Walk consigliere does not mean he relishes it any less.
A performer since he was a child, Whear notes that he has stood in front of crowds as large as 1,100 people on a cruise ship.
But nothing he has experienced is quite like being hit with that first tidal wave of youthful energy coming into the town landing.
“It was unbelievable,” Whear says.
While Whear is relatively new to his role with the Marblehead Chamber, he is not totally unfamiliar with the red suit and white beard.
Whear says he has now served as “Santa’s helper” for more than 40 years—dating back to his late teens. He is something of a natural for the role, and he now knows he is not the only one.
Whear says he has developed a skill for picking fellow members of the North Pole fraternity out of a crowd, even in summertime. There is just something about their aura and personality, he says.
“There should be more [Santa’s helpers] in the world,” he says.
But one of Whear’s first forays in the role around 1980 went less than perfectly. His girlfriend at the time, an elementary school teacher, made him aware of the school’s need for a helper to accompany Santa on his visit.
Whear raised his hand, and all was going well. But then one of the children exclaimed, “Look! Santa has sneakers on!”
Ever since, Whear has made sure that Santa shows up in his proper boots.
For about eight years, Whear had helped to ensure the jolly old soul was there to greet children at the former Goodale Orchards, now Russell Orchards, in Ipswich.
The setting was idyllic, according to Whear. Santa would be seated in a barn near a fireplace, and children would be paraded in to be read stories and offer up their wish lists.
Still, nothing quite compares to Marblehead’s lobster boat ride, something he may not have fully appreciated when fellow Marblehead Little Theatre veteran and past Santa right-hand man Ron Amon offered to pass the candy cane to Whear a few years ago, he acknowledges.
“Now, I’ll do it until someone takes it away,” he says.
Knowing that many may never have his special vantage point on one of the Christmas Walk’s signature events, Whear describes what he sees and hears during his journey.
In addition to the throngs at the landing itself, when you look up to the right, you can see dozens of kids up at Fort Sewall, ready to make a mad dash back down to the landing once the boat comes into view.
In the condominiums to the left of the Barnacle, back porches are littered with people, perhaps enjoying a little brunch.
When Santa and Mrs. Claus begin to shout, “Merry Christmas!” and other greetings, their voices can be heard above the din and reverberate off the houses. The acoustics also make it possible to engage in call-and-response singing of holiday favorites.
Whear recalls with a laugh last year’s well-intentioned attempt to incorporate COVID-19 precautions into Santa’s landing. The plans called for children to remain penned into a roped-off area for “socially distanced” photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The ropes did not stand a chance.
Whear says that, once the barrier collapsed, he and Best exchanged a quick glance and decided to keep on keeping on, helping Santa and Mrs. Claus to go with the flow.
Despite helping dozens of kids get their photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus—a few drooling or sneezing—he never got sick, and neither did Best, as far as he knows, a minor Marblehead Christmas miracle.
Whear says he could not have a better partner than Best, and is a bit sheepish that his guy, Santa, gets more than his fair share of the children’s adoration.
“The big guy gets all the attention,” he says.
Often, however, Mrs. Claus and Best are the ones helping soothe children who have gotten nervous waiting in line and want to abort the mission before having their photos taken.
By selling Wire 4 Hire, his Salem-based electrical contracting business, Whear has freed himself to pursue his passions—primarily his production company, Silly Theatre Productions—and take jobs that bring him joy.
On that front, serving as the Marblehead Chamber’s Santa’s helper is a “corker,” he says.
“I hope I have a good run,” Whear says.
