I was 14 years old the first time I put on the Santa suit. My father owned a Santa suit and every year, he would get one of his employees to put on the suit and come visit us at our home in Bethelehem, Pennsylvania. Only this year he didn’t have anyone to put on the suit.

Years earlier, my brother Robin, who was a year & a half older than I, had guessed that my parents stored the Christmas gifts in a closet just outside of our bedroom. Needless to say I wasn’t ready
to learn this part of the story. I had two younger sisters who would be heart broken if Santa didn’t show up that year, so when my father told my brother and I that he didn’t have anyone to wear the
suit, I immediately volunteered. After that visit, watching my younger sisters’ reactions to my visit, I was hooked. Several years later I began to make public and private visits portraying Santa Claus.

Years later I enlisted in the Air Force and did not take my suit with me. 4 years later, I began building my recording studio and video production company. I did not portray Santa for a number of years.
It wasn’t until after I had open-heart surgery that I decided to have my own Santa suit made. My wife portrayed Jingles the Elf.

One year on Christmas Day, we decided to go to some of the local hospitals and visit with the children who were not able to go home for Christmas. We arrived at the pediatric unit at Lehigh Valley Hospital in the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Day. The nurses at the nurses’ station told us that they had a young boy who needed a visit from Santa. His family had not been in to see him yet and he was not happy. As I entered his room, I noticed that he had his leg in traction and he had covered his head with his sheets. I did a Ho HO Ho and told him that I was Santa and I was here to cheer him up. No matter what I did he was not going to peep out from under the sheets. After all, he knew what Santa looked like so he stayed covered. I then told him that I brought Jingles the Elf
with me. Every time I said Jingles, Jingles would shake her head and make the the bells on her hat jingle. Well, curiosity got the best of that little boy and he finally looked out and saw Santa and
Jingles the Elf. I had a casual conversation with the young boy and just before we left, I told him that the nurses said it would be ok if I left a candy cane for him. I asked him if that would be ok with him
and he said Thank You Santa. Countless visits and stories later brought me as much joy as it did the children.
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My wife and I, along with our golden retriever (reindog) Rudolph, decided to retire in 2005 and we moved to Port St. Lucie, Florida. I continued to be a Christmas performer, and became a member of
The International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas and the Palm Tree Santas. Even though my wife and I had been married for 38 years, she got a promotion and became Mrs. Claus.
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​We purchased a 6,000 square foot office warehouse in St. Lucie West and I continued to collect Santas, Snowman and Angels. I also purchased and refurbished a full size sleigh, originally built in 1885. I then decided to create a tour through Santa’s Workshop with the
hopes of sharing the love, kindness and compassion for others. Not only was it well received, but guests who went through our tour couldn’t wait to call and text their
friends about what they had experienced. We received nothing but 5 star ratings for the next 11 years. During that time I met a family with 2 young boys who were hemophiliacs who were unable to play with their neighbors without close supervision by family members who knew what to do in case either of the boys were to get hit with a ball or fall to the ground and potentially bleed out.

We gifted them a tour through Santa’s Workshop Experience and after the tour we presented them with the keys to our motorhome. The motorhome gave the family a better opportunity to travel together on numerous family trips to exciting destinations. It was one of a number of Random Acts Of
Kindness from my wife and I. We were also introduced to a single mother who had 5 children. Even with working 3 or 4 jobs, she could not afford a turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner. People donated money and items to give to this family and they asked me if I would help. I became the voice of this group and was able to tell her that she and her family were selected to receive a very special Christmas. On a week day, when we were not open to the public, we did opened our Santa’s Workshop Experience tour to this family and at the end of the tour they all got to visit with Santa and then the elves began to bring in gifts for all of the children including toys, bikes, boots, clothing and even a coat for mom. We also gave them a check to buy groceries for a full blown Christmas Dinner. It again was a Random Act of Kindness.​

In 2015 we introduced Dasher, our 3rd golden retriever, into our family and a few years later we adopted Blitzen, an English golden retriever.

​In 2019 under the name Santa’s Workshop Experience Inc, I filed for a 501 (c)3 non profit so that those who wanted to contribute to our non-profit could do so and help children with medical conditions and and their
families and underprivileged children and their families an opportunity to come through our tour at no cost to them.

During the Covid Years, with an abundance of caution, we decided not to open our tour to the public. Our 6,000 square foot office warehouse remained dormant and we had to cover the expenses without much income coming in. We did however visit with 196 families with virtual visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

In 2022 we decided to reopen Santa’s Workshop Experience Tour and added Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Shop, which opened just a few weeks ago. I guess there is some truth to the saying there are 4 stages of believing in Santa. “I believe in Santa, I don’t believe in Santa, I look like Santa, I am Santa”. We thought telling our story might encourage others to share the Love, Kindness and Compassion for others

Do You Believe in the Magic of Christmas, we hope so.
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Santacerely,

Santa Jon Miller

PS: I will turn 76 on December 20th and my wife and I have now been married for 55 years.
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Feel Free to contact me.
E-mail: [email protected]
Cell Phone: 610-533-2697
575 NW Mercantile Place, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986

Also visit our website: WorkshopSanta.com