The Magic Of Santa
Neale was born an orphan in 1942, a WWII baby without any history of his biological family. He was later adopted and lived a happy life as a child with his new family, Neale recalls the times of working on different boats with his stepfather as part of his childhood.
A handyman of many talents, Neale has worked as a jack of all trades with a love for working with his hands on boats and ferries. He has also been a radio host, voice-over artist, a spruiker, a marriage celebrant, he has even held and performed in his own plays. His most decorated and recent gig has been that of a Santa Claus
For Neale, this become one of the best gigs he has ever been offered which began around 18 years ago. His first experience as a Santa saw him travel to Templestowe, Santering for a family Christmas Party.
“It was the first serious lesson I got as a Santa. A young couple came up to me with their baby and said “Santa do you mind holding our baby for a photo?” I said “Not at all ho ho ho…” and they said, “this is so important to her, this will be her first and last Christmas, she is sick and will not live for another year.” All of a sudden there was some depth to Jingle Bells or Merry Christmas that really made my hairs stand up on the back of my neck, I was almost crying of course.”
This experience made Neale realise how important the role of Santa was to families and was thrilled with the ability to share his message of peace and goodwill to all. He eventually worked his way up to the bigger venues like Crown Casino and Myer’s on Bourke Street, which is arguably the holy grail of Santa jobs. “You can’t get much higher in the business than Myer Bourke Street and Crown Casino, I had the pleasure of doing both. I enjoyed the magic and explaining the magic to thousands and those who didn’t believe anymore and those that did believe.”
“It is so so simple. I always had a catchphrase…no matter how young or how old they were, it didn’t matter…I’d say if you really want to know the secret of Christmas, the secret is love and peace and goodwill. The only way to achieve that is to be good to each other.”
“You get to this age level where, believe it or not, where you actually transition from Santa is pure magic to the magic of Santa, it is simply the spirit of giving.”