Hi-Line Living: From Brutus to Santa

Some Havreites may know him as Martin Holt, but others know him as Santa Claus. 

Holt has been a major draw to the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce's annual tree-lighting celebration at Town Square for most of the decade.

Holt said he started being Santa for the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce seven or eight years ago when Debbie Vandeberg was the executive director for the Chamber. He began as Santa at the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony then also started portraying Santa for Cookies and Milk with Santa.

"He was funny, spontaneous and he just connected so well with the crowd," Vandeberg said. "I think that some of that goes back to his connectivity to Montana Actors' Theatre. If you have seen him in plays, he's phenomenal and he just put on that red suit and he became Santa Claus."

Vandeberg added that Holt was just willing to be Santa and to do it every year.

"Sometimes people will step up and fulfill the ask that you give them and then after a couple years they say, 'I don't want to do this anymore,' which is totally OK, but Martin was always there, always willing," she said. 

Holt said the Chamber needed a new Santa because of the death of the man who had previously played Santa, Eddie Mejie.

He and his wife, Eleanor Mejie, had played Santa and Mrs. Claus at the celebrations.

Eleanor Meije died a few years later, losing a battle to cancer in 2014.

Holt said that the first time he played Santa he did it with Eleanor Mejie.

"It was very awkward. She was a very nice person, nothing against her at all, but just the situation itself was very awkward. The year after that, she decided she wasn't going to do it anymore and like I said she was very nice, but it was obviously painful for her," he said. "I did it solo for a few times, which worked quite well, it was very good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, but then I met my current girlfriend about four years ago, we came up with the idea that we needed a Mrs. Claus."

He said Angela Murri was completely on board with the idea, so they got her a costume, an old lady wig, used a tree skirt as her shawl and more.

"Her outfit looked so good that I decided, well, I gotta up my game here a little bit, so I actually went out and bought like a $200 Santa suit out of my own money," Holt said. "I figured if I'm doing this forever, I need something that's comfortable and long-wearing and at that point, I was like well I'm doing this forever now."

He added that due to his involvement with MAT he has an entire closet filled with costumes through the different periods of time and medieval weaponry. He said he had a leather belt that he has used in other costumes and thought it would work well with the Santa outfit as well as some pirate boots. 

This year, he said he added a new fur-lined cape as part of his wardrobe which worked out well - this year's Tree Lighting Ceremony was in 7-degree temperatures.

The Havre Chamber continues to be pleased with his work.

"Martin is one of the best Santas I've encountered. He is so great with all the kids and is always willing to give his time to come play the role," Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Julea Robbins said. "He truly embodies the roll of being jolly and fun, and we are so grateful that he comes to the tree lighting and Cookies and Milk with Santa every year."

Holt said, so far, he has had positive experiences being Santa, with some occasions where the child might have been too young and has cried or was fussy. 

He added that children soon relax when they realize that he's the guy who brings the presents and puts them under the tree and they get more friendly.

"You can always tell when that switch was made," he said. 

"There's been moments that really stick into our minds which brings me to why I do it and why I still do it ... There was one time when I was doing it solo and I was walking back to get changed. There were these three hard partiers and they were crowded around one of those barrels that you have a fire in, and this woman who was obviously indulging in the Christmas cheer a little and she looks over at me cross-eyed and goes, 'It's Santa Claus,' and came over and gave me a big hug. I'm just like, 'Ho Ho Ho young lady, Merry Christmas."

Holt said adults forget that children take Christmas seriously and Santa seriously.

"There's something symbolic about it and you get from it and look at the news or you read the news or see it on TV, you think the world is a horrible place, but then there's a spirit of, 'We can be good to each other, we can be nice to each other.' We can do that and it doesn't mean once a year," he said. "Human beings really do have this sense of we want people to be happy, we want people to have joy in their lives, but we just don't know how to do it most of the time." 

He added that doing something good makes people feel good, even if it is something as simple as putting on a Santa suit, and there's an innocence to it.

He said adults should take a day at least once a year and go out and be a kid again.

For Holt portraying Santa has become a calling.

There is no wanting to be Santa forever, he said, he is just going to do it. It has been enjoyable and, along with his involvement with MAT, he said it's a community service.

"It's a good thing to do," he said.

Preparing to be Santa Claus, he said, he as a tradition of watching The "Nightmare Before Christmas" and looks at classic Santa Clauses such as from the 1947 "Miracle on  34th Street" and Ghost of Christmas Present from "A Christmas Carol."

Besides being Santa for the season, Holt's hobbies include performing and writing plays. 

He said he has been involved in MAT for the past 22 years, getting into it after spending time in Connecticut.

"I've been acting since I was 15. I've been acting on and off and I wanted to get back into it after I took a little break," he said.

He added that the first play he performed in with MAT was "London Suite" which was also the first show of MAT and he now tries to average being in or being involved in about two to three plays a season.

"One year, I didn't try out for a single play and I ended up in every single one of them," Holt said. "The Montana Actors' Theatre does tremendous work, they do fantastic, in fact it's interesting because we are a community theater, with community members coming together who pretty much put on professional level shows."

There is so much talent in this town just in terms of musicians, actors, dancers and singers that MAT can fill in the ranks for their theater group with no problem at all, he said.

He said what he enjoys about performing and his involvement in the theater is being someone different.

"I get to be someone that I'm not. Sometimes it's a hero, sometimes it's a villain, sometimes it's a comic relief character, but no matter what it is, even if it's the tiniest part, you just get to be someone who's not you. You get to do things that you don't normally get to do," Holt said. "Some of my favorite roles are parts that are just horrible people. It's so much fun to play a bad guy sometimes."

He added that sometimes actors get to play a heaven-sent role - during last year's MAT season, they showcased Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman,'' and he played the lead character of Willy Loman.

"Theater is amazingly hard work because you are working for months at a time, you are memorizing lines, you are rehearsing, sometimes it's really hard work and sometimes you're (mad) and you are like, 'Why in the hell do I do this?' Then you go out there on opening night and finish the play and you get that applause from the audience and you realize that is why I am doing this," he said. "I enjoy performing these characters and I like making people happy. Even if you are playing a horrible character that makes people mad still you elicit a reaction, you got a response and that's what you live for."

He said one of the best moments of his acting career was when he was playing Willy Loman that he received a hiss and boo from the audience and when hearing that it was like music to his ears.

He added that everyone in the MAT company helps make an impressive working crew starting with MAT Executive Director Jay Pyette and Artistic Direct Grant Olson. 

Olson said he has directed Holt in at least a dozen shows.

"One of the most memorable ones was 'Julius Caesar,' because Martin was almost always given a comic roles and he's amazing and I casted him as Brutus in 'Julius Caesar,' which was kind of a surprise to some people, including him, and it turned out to be an awesome show and he in that role was phenomenal," he said. "It was one of those moments where I was like really amazed by Martin's acting ability."

"(Pyette and Olson) basically saved my life as a company. I mean figuratively of course, but they are the reason why I am the person I am today," Holt said. "If it weren't for them I wouldn't be Santa Claus, I wouldn't be anything."