The most memorable gift I am likely to receive this Christmas didn’t cost a thing.
It came in the form of a moment — one never experienced before and, possibly, never to return — that occurred last week during a visit to a classroom of students with disabilities at a Broward County high school, where I made my wildly improbable debut as Santa Claus.
The decision to don the red-and-white suit and hat to help deliver toys to the class was, let’s say, out of character: I do not enjoy the spotlight, public speaking or performing; I’m not great at make-believe (thanks, journalism); I don’t do karaoke — heck, singing Christmas carols makes me Grinchy.
But when your first-ever beard, embarked upon as a one-off, good-luck charm for the Florida Panthers, unexpectedly comes in like a snowdrift and reaches full bloom during the holidays, something happens that is beyond your control.
Perhaps because of its unstylish unpretentiousness and as a symbol of the Christmas spirit, my beard has encouraged a parade of total strangers to walk up and engage me in random ways over the past couple of months. They ask: Can you take a picture with us? Can I touch it? Am I on the naughty list?
This is not a complaint — these interactions are always good-natured and fun.
“Your beard is fire, sir,” one young man said, offering his hand to shake in the beer line at a Miami Hurricanes football game in November at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium.
At the annual Christmas on Las Olas festivities on Dec. 2, the principal at St. Anthony Catholic School in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Jenna McIntosh, had a different ask: Would I be willing to play Santa when her school threw a Christmas party for students with disabilities at Fort Lauderdale High School?
Instinctively, I hesitated, so she played her trump card: “They’re 18, 19 years old and they believe in Santa Claus.”
How do you say no to that?
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, gets a thumbs-up from junior Joseph Depaz Rivas after he received an Uno card game at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Homeroom classes at St. Anthony Catholic School “adopted” students with special needs and donated holiday gifts delivered by Santa. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, fist-bumps senior Esteban Acosta at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Homeroom classes at St. Anthony Catholic School “adopted” students with special needs and donated holiday gifts delivered by Santa. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, makes his first-ever appearance as St. Nick at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, greets students at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Homeroom classes at St. Anthony Catholic School “adopted” students with special needs and donated holiday gifts delivered by Santa. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell dons his hat before making his first-ever appearance as St. Nick at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A hug from Maria Jose Alcocer after the Christmas party at Fort Lauderdale High School. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
With a Florida Panthers hat and facial hair formerly known as a hockey beard, Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell arrives at Fort Lauderdale High School to make his first-ever appearance as Santa Claus. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell dresses the part before making his first-ever appearance as St. Nick at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell makes last-minute adjustments before showtime at Fort Lauderdale High School. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell watches as junior Sophie Ramirez unwraps her gifts at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, walks down a hallway at Fort Lauderdale High School with seniors Marquize Young and Maria Jose Alcocer, and teacher Justin Willard on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, gets a thumbs-up from junior Joseph Depaz Rivas after he received an Uno card game at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. Homeroom classes at St. Anthony Catholic School “adopted” students with special needs and donated holiday gifts delivered by Santa. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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The beard from nowhere
My road to playing Santa began, as many good things have, with Gustav Forsling.
On May 17, 2024, the Florida Panthers were in Boston playing the archrival Bruins in Game 6 of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The clock was ticking down on a 1-1 tie that seemed headed for overtime, which the home team would be favored to win, seizing momentum in the series.
But with 93 seconds left, Forsling whipped the puck between the legs of a defender and, even more improbably, through a space between the post and the goaltender barely as wide as the puck itself, for a series-winning goal.
It was a miraculous shot and suggested that there was something magical about this team. I vowed not to shave until they won the Stanley Cup.
Which was not a small declaration: My past attempts at cultivating something that looked like a beard always followed the same pattern — weeks of unsightly growth and awkward questions culminating in patchy, scraggly embarrassment and surrender.
However, by the time the Panthers did indeed win their first Stanley Cup championship a little more than five weeks later, this new beard was, out of nowhere, almost presentable, with the empty patches having filled in. Also a revelation was the color, which I have been comparing to Pantone’s Color of the Year 2026, Cloud Dancer, “a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.”
But we had the Stanley Cup, so it was time for the beard to go (my wife had the razor ready). And yet … as the Panthers spent the summer of 2024 squiring the Cup around South Florida restaurants and bars, hockey was all the buzz and wearing a Panthers cap over a “hockey beard” was a way to pay homage, I thought.
When the Panthers’ 2024-2025 season started that fall, it seemed like shaving might tempt bad luck. So when they won a second consecutive Stanley Cup in June, how could my beard not deserve some of the credit? And how can I shave this season, with the Panthers vying for a third straight championship?
But now, 19 months after Forsling’s hair-raising goal, a funny thing has happened: My untamed hockey beard has become something else.
“Have you ever thought about being Santa Claus?” said a funky-chic woman who approached me in the lobby of The Parker in Fort Lauderdale. It was Halloween night, and we were there to see tribute bands Strangelove (Depeche Mode) and Ordinary Boys (The Smiths). I was wearing a very un-Santa-like black leather motorcycle jacket, a decades-old remnant of my Ramones-spent youth.
Apparently, Camille Terry was that desperate. Terry is in the business of booking Santa Clauses at holiday events in South Florida, and there is a shortage of real-beard Santas in South Florida, she explained. Handing me her card, Terry urged me to consider getting into the business.
Which, of course, was ridiculous. Me? Santa Claus?
Through November and into December, the beard led to other casual conversations about possible Santa jobs, video shoots and photo ops. They all were easy to deflect — public appearances in a Santa outfit for money just didn’t feel right.
Then came the Fort Lauderdale High School offer I couldn’t refuse.
With a Florida Panthers hat and facial hair formerly known as a hockey beard, Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell arrives at Fort Lauderdale High School to make his first-ever appearance as Santa Claus. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Memorable moment
Each holiday season, homeroom classes at St. Anthony Catholic School (SACS) “adopt” youths who are part of the Exceptional Student Education program at Fort Lauderdale High. SACS students use the high schoolers’ Christmas wish lists to gather donations and purchase gifts, which volunteers then wrap and deliver.
Organized by McIntosh, St. Anthony’s principal, and ESE teacher Justin Willard, this year’s party took place on Dec. 15, with each of the 21 students in the program receiving a bag containing about a half-dozen gifts.
The ESE program offers education and life skills training — from learning to boil water for macaroni and cheese to how to bag groceries — and some in the class are further along than others, Willard said. There are students in wheelchairs, others with limited verbal skills.
I strode into the room in a spacious $50 Amazon Santa outfit bulked up with a light winter coat underneath, lightly scented in a holiday fragrance (thanks, dear) and, as recommended by professional Kringles, a hearty breakfast of wintergreen mints.
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell makes last-minute adjustments before showtime at Fort Lauderdale High School. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
If there were skeptics in the room, it was not apparent: Eyes brightened, bodies shifted excitedly in seats and a joyful murmur filled the room.
“Who knows what Santa’s favorite song is?” I asked. “You better watch out, you better not cry …”
Senior Marquize Young was quickest with the answer. “I sing that song at home all the time,” he said.
The party was an ensemble production, as I helped St. Anthony teachers and ESE staff hand out brightly wrapped presents while doughnuts shaped like Christmas ornaments were served.
Isabella Jagersberger tugged shyly at an uncooperative ribbon and, after allowing Santa to help, discovered a box of colorful perfumes, lotions and potions from her wish list. Joseph Depaz Rivas celebrated his Uno card game, Sophie Ramirez clutched a pair of jeans splashed with pink (her favorite color) and a CD of Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” while Young put on a replica WWE championship belt.
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell watches as junior Sophie Ramirez unwraps her gifts at Fort Lauderdale High School on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Amid the whirl, McIntosh noted that some of the students come from homes where buying holiday gifts is a challenge.
“For a lot of them, this is their Christmas,” she said.
Surrounded by their joy and gratitude, it was impossible not to be reminded of the ideals of the season, and a gift to be involved in some small way. Santa is real because they want him to be real. They have faith in the goodness in the world — and that feels good right now.
After the party was over, Willard, Young and senior Maria Jose Alcocer escorted me to the front of the school. As we neared the door, Alcocer turned and gave me a hug, genuine and sincere, that left me emotionally wobbly.
“Thank you, Santa,” she said, quietly. I got a little choked up.
Then I stepped back out into the real world. I kept the Santa hat on for the rest of the day.
Sun Sentinel staff writer Ben Crandell, dressed as Santa Claus, walks down a hallway at Fort Lauderdale High School with seniors Marquize Young and Maria Jose Alcocer, and teacher Justin Willard on Monday, Dec. 15. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
A hug from Maria Jose Alcocer after the Christmas party at Fort Lauderdale High School. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell.