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A Right Jolly Old Elf

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Ho Ho Ho and all that jazz...

Entries in this blog

Interview with Larry Peter

This week I sat down with Larry Peter, the director and producer of the upcoming Santa Claus documentary, They Wore The Red Suit. There is a lot going on with the film. Read on to learn more. ClausNet: So Larry, what is the latest with the film? Larry: The big news is we’re in our first film festival with, hopefully, many more to come. The Indianapolis International Film Festival is featuring the film in a prime screening on Sunday, July 14 at 4:30 PM in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s gran

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Private Screening of They Wore The Red Suit

If you ever have the opportunity to visit my home town, you may notice a few things around here with the name RIELLY on it. On the east side of town there is a tree lined street with a street sign that reads: RIELLY LANE. Downtown, near the docks, where the Prudence Ferry arrives to shuttle passengers to and from the local islands is a beautiful park. Under one of the park's trees is an unassuming bench with an engraving that reads: JIM RIELLY’S BENCH. Hanging near the entrance of our Town Ha

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

I'll Take The Compliment

Yesterday on New Year's Day, my Mrs. Claus and I went out to do a little shopping. There is a very cool country store the next town over. The store is always beautifully decorated but especially at Christmastime. The owners of this store contacted me in December wanting to know if I was available for a photo shoots. Unfortunately I was completely booked so they said that they would just wait and do something in November. Anyway, Mrs. Claus and I went into the store to see if we could pick

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

You are not the real Santa Claus

Normally I don't pay much attention to any of the Santa Facebook groups. Wading through all the egos, tantrums, and prima donnas is nothing less than exhausting. There is so much chest thumping going on over there it won’t be long before one Santa climbs to the top of the Empire State Building. Of course as soon as the first one starts his climb, it wouldn't be long before others joined in – all claiming to have thought of the idea first. And instead of Faye Wray, the Santas would be carrying th

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly in Beards

A Milestone

Next month will be something of a milestone for me -- 40 years. No, not my birthday (I wish). It was forty years ago that I first donned the Red Suit. At age 8, I was picked to be Santa Claus in our third grade Christmas Play. I don’t remember how or why I was chosen for the role. Maybe it was just fate. I don’t even remember the title of the play or any of my lines. I do remember singing “Santa Claus Is Comin To Town” and vaguely remember that I played “Kris Kringle” and that no one knew tha

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

From: Toy Fair 2011: The Coolest Toys

I have had the good fortune of attending a few Toy Fairs. I also live very close to Hasbro's World Headquarters. I've always thought I would love to work for a Toy company. Yeas ago, I interviewed for a marketing position with the CEO and VP of Sales of a small toy manufacturer, now owned by Hasbro. In the interview they asked me what were some of my favorite toys as a kid. Without missing a beat I listed off several of my fondest toys and went on to explain how I still have many of them to this

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

One Thousand

This week we reached a major milestone on ClausNet.com. On October 21, 2010 we welcomed our 1,000th member to our community. Now you may not think this is such a big deal, but consider the fact that unlike other online communities, I personally approve each and every request to become a registered member. When I launched ClausNet.com, I had just returned from my first time attending theCharles W. Howard Santa Claus School, in Midland Michigan. As a first time student to the school, I was stru

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Yes Meghan, there is a Santa Claus

In a few weeks, my daughter will turn 12. Yet despite the fact that most, if not all of the kids in her school no longer believe in the Jolly Old Elf, my daughter Meghan still believes that there is indeed a Santa Claus. She knows that I and a few of my friends are Santa Claus Ambassadors and she knows that I run ClausNet.com. At first, you might think that she is immature for her age, but she really isn't. In may ways she is more mature than some 15 and 16 years olds. Growing up, my pa

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Welcome to ClausNET

This month I launched ClausNetMedia. ClausNET now has it's very own Channel on YouTube! This video is the first of several original videos planned for the ClausNetMedia YouTube Channel. Feel free to subscribe to the ClausNetMedia Channel and check back for new videos coming out each month! ClausNET on YouTube In addition to original content, ClausNetMedia can be used for our members to promote themselves in video on YouTube, blogs, and websites. Here is an example of a Santa Claus

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

The Santa Claus Oath Coat of Arms

This week, Phil and I collaborated on a project for the Santa Claus Oath. We decided to create an historically accurate Coat of Arms for the Oath. One of our goals in developing the Coat of Arms was that it needed to represent the eight principles that make up the Oath. The eight elements of the Santa Claus Oath Coat of Arms are: Shield SC Letters Crossed Candy Canes Traditional Symbols of Saint Nicholas Reindeer Grapevines Banner Colors Each element represents the following:

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Passing The Tradition of Santa Claus Across Generations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Passing The Tradition of Santa Claus Across Generations Santa Michael Rielly of Rhode Island takes Oath for his famous Grandfather Providence, RI (PRWEB) February 5, 2009 -- Michael Rielly, the grandson of Rhode Island's famed Santa, James D. Rielly, will take the Santa Claus Oath at Celebrate Santa on March 17 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. James D. "Jimmy" Rielly's career as Rhode Island's most recognizable Santa Claus spanned over 60 years. He began his Santa Claus

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Memories of Santa Claus

My earliest Santa Claus memory was when I was 6-years old. I have always loved Lego. In fact, I still do and yes I still play with Lego. One year I asked Santa for a Lego set. Back then they didn't have kits or models like they have today. Lego sets we simply a box with some total number of standard and specialty blocks. I remember that I wanted more clear blocks so I could make windshields for my spaceships. Anyway, Christmas Day came and there was no Lego. There were lots of gifts: G

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Daddy, are you Santa Claus?

Well, it was bound to happen. Christmas 2008 will be the year I remember as the year I told my daughter that I was Santa Claus – or rather, to be exact, one of Santa Claus’s Ambassadors. I guess I should be thankful I got this far. After all, Meghan is almost 11. My son made it to 12! He only found out it was me after reading a newspaper article that mentioned my name. Back in 2006 she was wavering. I decided to see if I couldn’t get at least another year out of her. So I appeared in M

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Little Marissa

I worked the Polar Express last weekend. If any of you have worked a Polar Express you know that there is very little time to get through the entire train by the time you get back into the station. So the amount of time you can spend with each family is limited. Well on Sunday, I asked this one little girl named Marissa if there was anything special she wanted for Christmas. She thought about it for a minute or tow but just couldn't think of anything. So I told her I would surprise her with s

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Community

I was thinking about this, this morning on my drive into work. Only a few months ago, ClausNET was less than 30 members. In a year we grew to over 400! What makes ClausNET different from other Santa and Mrs. Claus groups? What is it that makes folks come here and keep coming back? There are other 'Santa Claus' groups online. Why is ClausNET different than other groups? Is it the software you are reading this with? Is it the graphics? Is it the Arcade or the Live Chat? And then it struck me

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Syracuse.com: My kids are starting to doubt Santa Claus

I read the following in the Syracuse.com website: My kids are starting to doubt Santa Claus When my daughter turned 9, she began to have doubts. Most of the kids in her class don't believe. So, on Christmas Eve of that year I entered her bedroom at midnight with a prized American Girl doll in hand. I woke my daughter and presented the gift to her. I sat on her bedside for a little while and told her how good she was doing in school and how she deserved this American Girl doll. At the

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Live from Peru, IL!

Hi all! I am here in Peru, IL for the Midwest Santa's The Santa and Mrs. Claus Christmas Workshop. So I thought I would provide a day-by-day account. I arrived in Chicago O'Hare around 11:00AM and the drive to Peru was about 2 hours. After a stop by the local Starbucs, I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing my presentations. I'll post my presentations here next week. Later, I met Phil Wenz and his wife for dinner. We had a wonderful time! Pizza and beer. Good combination! I'm

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Keeping Your Santa Secret

I have a 10-year old daughter who still very much believes. My son, who is 15 now, did not know that I was Santa until he was 12! I managed to keep my secret identity hidden quite easily up until last year. That's when I started ClausNET. As you can imagine I am on the site often. This has been a challenge recently as my daughter, who is very much Daddy's girl lately loves to hang on my shoulder while I am working on the computer. More than a few times, I've had to quickly collapse my browse

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Santas Behaving Badly

There used to be a show on British television years ago called Men Behaving Badly. As the title of the sitcom suggests, the basic premise of the show revolved around men who frequently engaged in childish pranks and behaving immaturely and selfishly. Today's article in the Wall Street Journal by Jim Carlton entitled: "These Santas Are Keeping a List, And Not All Have Been Nice" reminds me of that show. As I am not a member of AORBS, FORBS, or FIRBS I cannot really comment on the matter.

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

New Suit for Santa Rielly

Here's an update on my new suit. First off the girl making the suit decided to get engaged! That of course put my new suit on hold. As you might expect she has decided to make her own wedding gown. Thankfully she already has the pattern laid out for my suit. We are still looking at fabrics and still need a good source for fur. I will be using Santa Craig's buttons for the suit and have decided to nix the fur down the front. I think it might be too much. The most difficult part will be

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland

I'm headed to Michigan next week and one of my first stops will of course be Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland! Sadly, Wally Bronner passed away this year. I had the distinct pleasure to meet Mr. Bronner this past October and I was honored when I was invited to the Silent Night Chapel where we sang Silent Night in the Chapel together.

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Grow your own Christmas Tree!

There are only 209 days until Christmas, but you only need 12 hours to grow your very own Christmas Tree! I am not sure how it works exactly, but it looks pretty cool! The Magic Christmas Tree comes with a string of red beads, sparkles, and a gold star. Set the tree's trunk into the base, decorate, add the magic water and in 12 hours - viola! - a beautiful Christmas Tree! The same company makes a Magic Snowman too! Like the Magic Christmas Tree, growing the Magic Snowman is just as easy!

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Batphone or Santaphone?

I posted this on my personal site a few days ago. Jeff reminded me that this would look great on Santa's desk too! I think he is right! Anyone old enough to remember when you had to get your phone from the telephone company? I was thinking about that last night when I stumbled across a site that sells old phones. A few of the phones reminded me of the Batphone Adam West used. So then I started wondering if it would be possible to build you own Batphone. A quick search came up with this sit

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Back to work!

Well after a short stint of unemployment, I am now back to work. Actually my first day with my new company was the second week of March. But I have been so busy since then, that I havn't had much time to post or blog. Hopefully the travel will subside a bit soon.

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

Will work for cookies...

On January 2, my company informed us that they made a 'strategic' decision to move the business unit that I manage to another division within the company. Unfortunately, there was no room at the new division for most of the team including me. The company was nice enough to provide me with a decent severance package though. I only hope it is enough to get me through to securing a new position. So I am home now. I guess I will use my spare time to paint a few rooms in the house. Oh and I ca

Michael Rielly

Michael Rielly

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