This Saturday, the Greer Center for the Arts is hosting Santa Central, its first ever multicultural Santa event.
The event will host three different Santas of different races for families to choose from — a Black Santa, a Hispanic Santa and a white Santa. The idea for the event started around three years ago, when City Councilman Karuiam Booker struggled to find a local Santa for his daughter.
“She asked about visiting a Santa that looked like her,” Booker said. “And the only place that we could find, we would have to go all the way to Gastonia, North Carolina to find a Black Santa.”
Since then, Booker says it has been his mission to bring a Santa to Greer that his daughter could see herself in. This year, it finally came to fruition. The Greer Arts Division took Booker’s pitch for a “Santa’s From Across the World” event, eventually naming it Santa Central.
“Every little kid deserves to see themselves in Santa Claus,” said Robin Byouk, director of the Greer Cultural Arts Division. “... This is our first year kicking it off, and I hope that we have a good response.”
The event is free to the public. Each Santa will be available for a two-hour window, and the Hispanic Santa will be a Spanish-speaker.
In addition to time with Santa, there will be a small kids’ craft at the event. Attendees are encouraged to check out the gingerbread houses on display — created by Greer residents for the Gingerbread Jamboree competition. The winners will be announced next Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Santa Central will be held at the Greer Center for the Arts on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 12-6 p.m. For more information and updates on events, visit the Greer Cultural Arts Council’s Facebook page.
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