Greenville Journal & Spartanburg Journal - November 13, 2009

Jolly, Red and on a Mission:
The role of Santa helped on young man overcome the grief of losing a parent

Article by Cindy Landrum - Staff Writer

Cliff Snider got the role of Santa because he was the fattest kid in his church youth group.

The Methodist group in his hometown of High Point, N.C., was putting on a Christmas party for kids at a nearby mission and needed somebody to hand out gifts to the children.

But when Snider donned the rented corduroy suit and white wig and beard, it not only transformed him into Santa Claus, it covered up who he was—a 15-year-old boy reeling with grief over the death of his father in a car wreck that also killed an uncle and two Marine cousins.
Snider didn’t feel like celebrating much, but he knew the kids expected a jolly St. Nick so when he walked into the room, he ho, ho, hoed for all he was worth.

"A metamorphosis took place,” he said. "It made me quit thinking about myself. And seeing how happy they were touched me.”
Snider has been playing Santa ever since and he'll be in Spartanburg on Nov. 19 at the Carolina Gallery for Art Walk Spartanburg.
Snider, who calls himself Cliff “Kringle,” is the model for artist Linda Hyatt Cancel's biennial series of Christmas paintings.

It was 10 years ago when Cancel sent one of her paintings to a printing company in High Point, to be reproduced as a lithograph. Snider, who was a printer at the company, commissioned her to do a portrait of him as Santa.

Cancel, who is one of five artists who use Snider as a model, produced "The Gift,”which shows Santa carving pieces of a nativity.

"It represents the first—and greatest—Christmas gift,” Cancel said. The other paintings in the series include The Lamb” with Snider posing as a Father Christmas-type shepherd holding a lamb; "The Light,” where Santa is holding a candle near a window; "The Journey," with St. Nick tending sheep on the banks of the Enoree River; and this year's painting, "The Message,” which depicts Santa in a sleigh.

"We want to represent not just Santa and the joy he brings, but also the spiritual side of Christmas,” she said.

Cancel, too, had her own Christmas challenge. Her younger sister died when she was four. She was born on Christmas Eve.

"The thing we have in common is we experienced a loss in childhood and art and passion has been a source of comfort and strength,” she said.

Snider, who has a Master of Santa Claus from the International University of Santa Claus, continued to play Santa because it was a way to honor his father who loved Christmas.

"Little did they know that God was giving me a mission for my life,” said Snider, who lives in High Point and decided to pursue a full-time career as Santa after he was downsized from the corporate world in 2008.

He said the pivotal moment in his role as Santa Claus came when he lived in Spartanburg. His boss asked him to attend the Billy Graham crusade at First Baptist Church. Snider went because he couldn’t say no to his boss.

That night, Cliff Barrows was preaching. "Cliff, God has a plan for your life,” Barrows said during his sermon. "I felt he was talking to me,” Snider said. "Of course, he was really giving his own testimony. But that was pivotal in my Santa Claus role. The real meaning of Christmas became evident to me."

Snider said he no longer sees Santa as a fictional fat man. Instead, he sees him as a spiritual person like St. Nicholas.

Snider, 62, no longer has to don a fake beard. He does, however, dye his beard and hair each fall. Snider keeps a notebook where he writes the names of children and what they want for Christmas.

He remembers a boy who climbed onto his lap one year and didn’t ask for hottest toy or the latest video game. He wanted other kids at school to stop picking on him.

Snider, who said he empathized with the boy because of his own experiences growing up, said he couldn’t make that promise.

"I told him, 'Son, I can’t make other children be as nice as you are. That's a promise that Santa can’t make. But I can say a prayer for you. Is that OK?

The boy said it was and smiled as he climbed off Santa’s lap. "I went home and said a prayer for him that night” Snider said. "I felt like every angel in heaven was listening. That kind of thing has made my role more special to me.”

Contact Cindy Landrum at 679-1237 or clandrum@thespartanburgiournal.com.