I recently came across a BBC news story reporting that “Santa is Fake” signs were erected in a Canadian city west of Toronto.
Well, I strongly disagree. Santa is real.
Let’s go back to 1979, when a man named Richard Dildy was arrested in 1979 and charged with causing a disturbance after protesting outside a mall in downtown Toronto.
He was carrying a sign saying Santa was a lie. A photo showed him wearing a sign that read: “Down with Santa!”
This caused quite a stir.
He was labeled a “grinch” in a local newspaper the next day.
Here’s what Santa really represents
Every year, as we approach the Christmas season, a familiar debate resurfaces the question: “Is Santa real?”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
In my mind, the answer is simple. Yes, Santa is real. Not because he climbs down chimneys or flies a sleigh pulled by reindeer or lives at the North Pole, but because Santa is love, and love is undeniably real.
I know this is true because I have been loved, showed love all of my life and seen love all of my life.
Santa personifies something deeper than folklore. He represents the act of giving without expecting anything in return.
He is, in a word, selfless, not selfish. Look around you. Nonprofits report increased giving and volunteerism.
On our station, 95.5 FM WSB, our audience will make sure over 12,000 foster children get gifts through Clark Christmas Kids. In a world that often feels hateful, divided and self-focused, the idea of Santa reminds us that generosity, kindness, love still matter.
When we say “Santa is real,” we’re acknowledging the truth that kindness and compassion are powerful forces. They shape relationships, strengthen communities and bring hope when it’s most needed. We acknowledge that communities and families are healed and come together over these time-honored human traits.
World is better off with Jolly Old St. Nick
I admit I’m selfish in that I give gifts because it gives me great joy and pleasure to see a smile on a person’s face when they open my gift.
I also take great pleasure when picking out the perfect gift, not for recognition but simply to make someone smile.
That impulse — to give back, to lift others up — is Santa in action. It is the embodiment of his spirit — alive in every parent assembling toys late at night, every friend who surprises someone with a thoughtful gesture and every stranger who donates to a family in need.
My clearest memories are my mom, Valerie Wynter, and I getting a real Christmas on Christmas Eve, staying up all night decorating the tree — just the two of us laughing, arguing where the bulbs go and how to arrange the blinkers (I am true blinker guy).
This was Santa. This was love.
And Santa isn’t only for children. Adults need cheer just as much, maybe even more.
The holiday sparkle we feel — the lights, the music, the shared excitement — isn’t childish. It’s human. It reminds us that wonder doesn’t have an expiration date.
Santa gives us permission to embrace joy, to believe in something good and to pass that goodness on.
So, is Santa a man in a red suit at the North Pole? Is Santa Black or white? Maybe not literally.
But is Santa real in the ways that matter — in love, in giving, in lifting up, in sharing, in spreading happiness and joy shared across generations?
Absolutely.
Santa is real because what he stands for is real. And the world, America, Georgia and your household are better for knowing he is real.
Shelley Wynter is the host of The Shelley Wynter Show, which airs from 7-9 p.m. weekdays on 95.5 FM WSB: Atlanta’s News & Talk radio.
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