It may be the middle of the spooky season, but at the Hilton Marietta Conference Center, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas as dozens of Santa Clauses gathered to create holiday magic in a new kind of workshop.
Smyrna couple Michelle and Paul Smith, longtime Christmas performers and cofounders of a new nonprofit called The Sleigh Society, hosted their first compassionate performer workshop to help fellow Santa Claus performers prepare for more sensitive interactions they may encounter during the holiday season.
During the workshop, the Smiths invited medical and healthcare professionals to give advice for how performers can interact with their facilities’ most vulnerable patients, such as terminally ill children and elderly hospice patients…