In 2009 we documented another sad chapter in the history of professional Santas. We told the story of Celebrate Santa, a gathering of hundreds of Santas held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and how the event organizers used a Santa charity as a front to defraud a vendor and fellow Santas.
Part 1 told the story of the failure to deliver orders of product Celebrate Santa had received monies for. Part 2 discussed the history of turmoil in the world of Santas and the birth of the Santa Claus Oath – and what the organizers of Celebrate Santa really thought of it. Part 3 discussed the “Lost Santas”, those so disheartened by the dishonesty of Celebrate Santa 2009 continuing the history of strife and wrongdoing in the Santa community that they remain silent out of fear of reprisals amongst their fellow Santas. In Part 4, we recapped the Santa Wars and provided our suggestions of what the Santa community can do about improving their behavior – and the image of Santa Claus at the same time.
Since that series of articles was published Celebrate Santa has held their 2010 convention again in Gatlinburg. Fewer than half the 2009 attendees showed up and many promised amenities of the event never materialized. Celebrate Santa has exploded into a new story of corruption, fraud, deceit, mismanagement of funds, and continued dishonor to the name of Santa Claus.
As of this writing in April 2010, the event organizers are selling Celebrate Santa merchandise offline while at the same time perpetuating their fraud by claiming they are victims of price gouging. They have gone public with plans to move Celebrate Santa to a new city under the direction of professional event organizers from an unnamed “top business school”.
In Internet forums and online Santa groups outrage over the events has been vented and frustrations of what to do about another blemish on the community of Santas have been discussed.
It would be easy to say “I told you so” after what we published last year about Celebrate Santa. But we take no pleasure in these events. Without further editorial commentary we simply present a timeline of what has transpired in hopes that the Santa community can right itself and move forward in the positive, appropriate portrayal of Santa Claus in their dealings with the public and with each other:
2005
- Joe and Mary Moore coordinate “Operation Letters to Santa” in Southern California. [Another link]
2006
- Discover Santa convention was held in Branson, Missouri the first ever mass gathering of professional Santas under the direction of the Tim Connaghan-led AORBs. Joe Moore was the media director of Discover Santa 2006.
2007
- Joe and Mary Moore move from California to Tennessee. Circumstances surrounding the move are never explained. The Moores sold a Santa-related business to Connaghan but the move somehow caused Joe Moore to resign his position within AORBs. The opening in the board at AORBs was given to Nick Trolli, who reportedly started a whisper campaign against Connaghan in a grab for power within the group. At a gathering in Southern California Santa Ric Erwin attempts to video tape the proceedings of a vote but is strong-armed from the meeting by Jeff Germann and ordered out by security at the command of Nick Trolli.
2008
- The machinations of Nick Trolli and Jeff Germann and their takeover of AORBs is featured on a nation-wide broadcast of “This American Life”. Joe Moore is one of many Santas disassociated with AORBs in a purge engineered by Trolli and Germann that bitterly divides the Santa community.
- The Wall Street Journal Reports on the Santa “Civil War”
- The Overland Park convention of Discover Santa 2008 sponsored by AorbsInc never happened; Nick Trolli blames about 30 former Aorbs members (all banned for speaking out against him) — including Joe Moore — for the demise of the convention which was allegedly brought on by a campaign to dissuade vendors and fellow Santas from attending.
- The Santa Claus Oath is penned by Phillip L. Wenz and adopted by nearly every Santa organization and Santa portrayer known. A number of high profile Santas serve on the Oath committee and promote its values at gatherings and events for professional Santas. An oath book is created to record the names of Santas who take the oath.
- To fill the void left by the defunct Discover Santa gathering, Joe Moore launches an effort to gather Santas at a new venue titled Celebrate Santa, under the direction of the company listed under Mary Moore’s name, Jolly Old Elf LLC. Committee chairs for the event come from all over the Santa world.
- Word of the upcoming event spreads quickly in the Santa community. Trolli and Germann apply to attend but are declined registration by Joe Moore. Germann writes the Gatlinburg Tourism Board to complain but is told that as a private enterprise Jolly Old Elf LLC can allow who they want to their event. The issue gets debated amongst the volunteer Chairpersons for Celebrate Santa, many who feel that Trolli and Germann cannot be rightfully turned away if they pay their way in.
2009
- Celebrate Santa 2009 is wildly successful with more than 600 Santas in attendance in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The Santa Claus Oath is a central feature of the event.
- Nick Trolli and Jeff Germann show up in Gatlinburg during Celebrate Santa and pay as visiting members of the public to attend the show. Their presence causes a stir and according to Joe Moore they were politely asked to leave. Trolli and Germann claim an off-duty sheriff is assigned to escort them off the premises. Several committee chair persons advise Joe Moore to let them stay and participate in events but Joe chooses instead to take a public and ugly stand in a hotel lobby. During the Santa parade Trolli and Germann walk the streets handing out toys to children before they are stopped by local law enforcement. They claim Tim Connaghan called local police on them from a cell phone on a float during the parade. They left Gatlinburg bitter, disappointed and bent on revenge.
- Shortly after the March 2009 event several Committee chairpersons withdraw due to the lies, drama and inconsistencies of Joe and Mary Moore. Rumors swirl that the some defections are caused by broken promises of payment to some committee chairs. Joe Moore explains the disassociation of former committee chairs as a need to improve the talent base of those running future events. All committee chair people are volunteers who pay their own travel to events and meetings. Some are given free hotel rooms but most provide their services to Celebrate Santa without compensation or reimbursement for expenses.
- At the event Celebrate Santa sells Santa Oath plaques for $100, purportedly to support the charity Santa-America. They take the orders and the money, promising to deliver the plaques as soon as they are made.
- Jeff Germann mocks Joe Moore online, bitter over the refusal of Moore and Celebrate Santa to allow AORBsInc representative at Celebrate Santa.
- More than 60 Oath plaques are ordered from Cascade Engraving, with only a portion of the funds provided for the work ordered.
- Checks for the Oath plaque sales are made out to “Celebrate Santa”.
- Three months after the close of Celebrate Santa several who ordered the plaques express surprise and concern that they have not been delivered. Joe Moore tells them he is having problems with Cascade Engraving who Moore claims has raised the price.
- Cascade Engraving goes public with their side of the story after reading Joe Moore’s false accusations of price gouging on the Internet. Cascade says all the plaques were manufactured but very few were actually paid for. Some Santas pay Cascade Engraving directly to get the Oath plaque and some make additional donations to Santa-America to cover what the Moores were not extending through the original sale of the plaques.
- Joe Moore is interviewed by DefendingSanta.com and accuses disgruntled former Chairpersons of falsely charging him with fraud over the Santa Oath plaques. Moore declares the Oath “bogus”. Mary Moore monitors and interjects through-out the whole interview with Joe Moore. Mary Moore is the registered owner of Jolly Old Elf LLC and believed by many to be the real force behind Celebrate Santa.
- DefendingSanta.com publishes a series of articles about the Oath plaque situation at Celebrate Santa.
- Even while sending out press releases announcing new features to Celebrate Santa 2010 Joe Moore contacts the City of Gatlinburg to cancel the upcoming event.
- Jeff Germann, Vice President of AORBsInc, is exposed as the webmaster and author of SantaCheck.com, a site dedicated to smearing Santas who stand in opposition of AorbsInc.
- News breaks of a major motion picture tentatively titled “The Santa Wars” is in production loosely based upon the break-up of AORBs. The film is slated for a 2011 release.
- Shortly after exposure of the Santa Oath plaque fiasco and the origins of SantaCheck.com several in the Santa community attempt to reconcile and bring the community together.
March 2010
- Santa-America, Inc issues a statement that it has received funds from Celebrate Santa totaling approximately $350, far below the amount expected on $6000 in sales of Santa Oath plaques. Santa-America declares it a “donation” but refuses to speculate whether or not it represents an actual accounting of proceeds from Celebrate Santa sales.
- Joe Moore claims Celebrate Santa is partnering with the Nicholas of Myra movie and that Ripley’s Believe It or Not is a major sponsor of Celebrate Santa.
- Celebrate Santa 2010 is held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee
- Reports surface on Internet sites from attendees of Celebrate Santa 2010 that attendance is less than half of the previous year: about 300 Santas
- Attendees are greeted at CS with news that none of the 3 luncheons paid for as part of registration would be provided. Instead, $15 dollar gift cards were distributed to attendees to fast food restaurants located away from the convention center and that they would have to cover lunch meals for all three days of the convention.
- Joe Moore opens Celebrate Santa by announcing to all attendees that the Convention Center “more than doubled their prices” — while receiving all services from Gatlinburg for free.
April 2010
- The Gatlinburg Convention and Tourism Bureau releases a statement declaring they have not been fully paid for the 2009 event and had collected nothing from Joe and Mary Moore for the cost of the 2010 event. Claiming Joe tried to cancel the show in July of 2009, the Convention Center served food and provided facilities for the event with no payment whatsoever.
- Joe Moore erases the Celebrate Santa Facebook page following the release of the Gatlinburg statement.
- Joe Moore deletes information posted on the Celebrate Santa blog following the release of the Gatlinburg statement.
- The Mountain Press, a local Gatlinburg newspaper, reports on the failure to pay and quotes Joe Moore as saying all funds due would be paid by mid-June 2010.
- An outstanding balance of more than $5000 remains due to the River Terrace Hotel, this after the River Terrace supplied more than $15,000 in freebies to Celebrate Santa, a fact known to several convention committee members.
- The Celebrate Santa Store is taken offline. Reports surface that Joe and Mary Moore are selling Celebrate Santa paraphernalia at offline venues, including Santa Oath pins, in violation of their merchandising agreements.
- Santa-America, Inc. disassociates with Celebrate Santa, removing Joe and Mary Moore from their Advisory Board.
- The River Terrace Hotel in Gatlinburg issues a statement outlining the broken promises, misrepresentation and failure to pay by Joe and Mary Moore.
- AorbsInc slams the City of Gatlinburg for not doing more to protect Nick Trolli and Jeff Germann during their attempts to infiltrate the 2009 event.
- Joe Moore publishes a rambling statement on the Celebrate Santa blog refuting the rumors of fraud and mismanagement promising to move the event to a new city under the direction of professional event organizers and with the advice of a “top business school”.
For almost five years the record clearly shows the Santa community has endured a number of publicly embarrassing episodes that have been damaging to the image of Santa Claus and to the reputations of those who work to portray him. The lessons learned have been difficult and painful. As parents, nobody wants to see Santa portrayed as anything less than what he is — a man of honor, charity, love, devotion, good humor and goodness. As professionals, nobody wants to be associated with ethical lapses, dishonesty, fraud, deceit or greed. And as children, any Christmas-loving believer wants Santa to remain the hero and the role model he originally was in the character of St. Nicholas.
The time has come to heal in the Santa community. We see good signs that the Santa community is moving forward to elevate standards, promote professional education, and to enforce ethical behaviors through legal means. We hope to be here to report on those activities in defense of who we know Santa Claus to really be.
Additional Sources Used in Researching this story:
The Family Yak
Celebrate Santa FAQ
YouTube Condensed Video of This American Life Story on Aorbs Split
Celebrate Santa 2009 Press Release
SuccessfulMeetings.com Features Joe and Mary Moore
State of Tennessee Business Filing for Jolly Old Elf LLC under Mary Moore’s Name
Jolly Old Elf website
Gatlinburg Promotes CS 2010
Original AORBs website
American Santas Plunged Into Civil War
Columbus, Ohio Coverage of Aorbs Convention City Prospect Tour 2007
Wall Street Journal Coverage of AORBs Breakup
Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School
Santa Group Demands Swine Flu Vaccine
History of AORBs, Before and After Trolli
January 2008 LA Times Article on Aorbs Gathering
Joe Moore’s Bio as a Universal Life Minister
Wikipedia’s Explanation of the Universal Life Church
Scam.com Discussion on the Legitimacy of Universal Life Church Ordinations
AorbsInc’s Argument for Ownership of domain names
TrainingIndustry.com Article on Santa Training
USA Today Coverage of Discover Santa 2006
Variety Article on Mike White’s movie called The Santa Wars