Mrs. Claus and the North Pole team are out again, spreading Christmas cheer throughout Newman Regional Health and beyond.
“It’s something that touches your heart every year,” said Joy Sloat, who doubles as Mrs. Claus during the holiday season. “You get such a fantastic feeling, putting a little Christmas in everybody’s hearts and their world.”
Sloat found her niche 10 years ago, when she decided to do something special for the floor nurses and other employees she worked with as a registered nurse at Newman.
She collected aluminum cans and crushed them throughout the year to gather money to buy gifts for a drawing and brought in cookies, candy canes and other treats for the entire floor of workers.
“Then I decided, ‘Well, why don’t I just surprise everybody?’” she said. “...And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to walk off the elevator as Mrs. Claus?”
Sloat purchased a Mrs. Claus outfit and a white wig and slipped into a persona that has become a holiday habit.
Mrs. Claus’s world expanded from one floor to all departments and to patients, too, as she was taken from place to place.
“Especially the patients,” she said. “When I entered to say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ you would not believe the feeling I received. ... I knew then I was hooked. For an instant, they’re like kids again. They forget they’re sick. Even though the visit is short, they are left in a better mood. It does something for us, and it does something for them. It’s just a wonderful day.”
Before long, others were hooked on the Claus capers, too.
Marianne Dixon, also an RN, got a costume and became Mrs. Claus’s assistant, “Elfie.” Deb Gould, another RN, chose a Rudolph costume. And Santa Claus himself sometimes joins the North Pole Team.
“And it’s been that way ever since,” Sloat said. “It’s become a big, big thing. You can’t believe seeing the expressions and reactions on these patients’ faces as the Claus family enters the room. It’s priceless.”
With the expanded routes through the hospital and into the town — including the Emporia Public Library and the Veterans of Foreign Wars — Sloat found that the group needed more financial help than the crushed aluminum cans could provide, though she still does that, too.
“I couldn’t do this if it weren’t for various businesses around town that also help me out,” Sloat said.
Spreading Christmas to hospital employees, though, remains Sloat’s favorite part of the activities.
“Those employees are so important to me,” she said. “That’s my family. And that family deserves some inspiration, too.”
Mrs. Claus offered some advice to the children and to other grown-ups who may need a little inspiration themselves.
“Believe in Santa Claus in your hearts, no matter what,” Sloat said. “That’ll put happiness in your heart.”