2nd-Generation Santa Spreads Holiday Cheer In Norwood

NORWOOD, MA - John Dyson is the quintessential embodiment of Santa Claus, and not just because of his physical resemblance of white hair and a matching beard.

The Norwood resident has been visiting local homes as the North Pole native, bearing gifts and the reason to believe in the magic of the holiday season.

The youth minister of 30 years and former West Roxbury resident is following in the footsteps of his father, who also donned the red suit. Now retired, Dyson used to work for the phone company for 35 years, climbing up telephone poles rather than going down chimneys.

"My father used to be Santa for all the nieces, nephews and grandchildren for many years," Dyson said. "After he developed Parkinson's, he couldn't do it anymore, so he asked me to take over, which I reluctantly did because I knew my brothers weren't going to."

His father's death earlier this year has given his role added meaning, Dyson said, as well as the pandemic.

"Last year, I saw how everything was all shut down and miserable," he explained. "So I put it out to the Norwood Now Facebook page. I said I know how to be Santa if families would like me to come and visit their families."

Dyson was overwhelmed by the positive response. Then he received twice as many requests this year.

"I had to turn people down," he said. "I had to limit it to 25 homes because those people would tell other people to come to their house, their relatives and neighbors. And I don't want to not have something for all the kids."

He brings enough gifts for every child he encounters in a humongous red sack, making it a huge endeavor. Sometimes Maria, his wife, joins him as Mrs. Claus in full costume.

The biggest thrill he has had this season was connecting with a 9-year-old child who was being bullied in school for believing in Santa.

"We opened the door to his apartment, and his jaw dropped," Dyson said. "I said, 'I heard people told you I ain't real.' So I started trying to prove to him that I knew him. I did my research and told him I knew he won a math award and he ran for his school to raise money for a new blacktop. Who else would know that?"

Dyson also explained the history of Santa going back to St. Nicholas and told him about his own father being Santa.

"Everything I told him was not a lie," he said.

The two also connected on the issue of bullying. The boy told Santa how he thought Rudolph was being bullied, and Dyson told him that Rudolph stepped up and was a hero, giving the boy a confidence boost he desperately needed.

“I told him that, when my father was Santa, Rudolph saved Christmas that year,” Dyson said. “There was a big snowstorm that year. I said to him, “Were those bullies right?’ And he said ‘No.’”

Dyson gave him a giant polar bear, which the boy hugged tightly. When his siblings looked puzzled, Dyson gave each of them a teddy bear.

“To me it just feels right to do this, to show the kids some love,” he said. “Children are a blessing. You just have to know how to open up to them.”

The Dysons purchased the stuffed animals themselves, going to Savers for the best bargains. Some neighbors or families requested his visit have joined his cause, dropping off bags of toys and donating money to Santa’s cause. All the money received goes toward more toys.

“I might put the costume on, but the whole community is showing their love,” he said. “Norwood is like that."

He also carries candy in his Santa sack as his father did. One child was reluctant to approach him until he started giving gifts.

“As a youth minister, I understand that every child is different,” he said. “I don’t burst into the house yelling, ‘Ho ho ho.’ I talk to them gently at their level and let them ask questions."

Dyson knows what it is like to need support. At one point in his life, he experienced homelessness. What has carried him through is his deep faith.

One of the ways his prayers were answered was when he was working at the phone company. He was on a telephone pole on his current street, and he prayed that he and his wife would be able to move into a neighborhood like this. About two years later, he was able to purchase an abandoned home four houses up from that telephone pole and renovate it.

This home, which was formerly a farm, has a fireplace large enough for Santa to fit through. As his sons have been growing up, it has become the gathering place for many local kids.

"The way I look at it, we get to keep an eye on our boys and know who they are with and who's influencing them," he explained. "The way it turned out, I would influence them."

He is also a survivor of a rare form of thyroid cancer, shocking doctors when they couldn’t find a trace after predicting the worst.

“God has blessed me with this,” he said. “But He was also telling me to share that love.”

His Christmas wish is “for people to love each other.”

On Monday, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the Town Common from 4-6 p.m. to hear children’s last-minute wishes. If monetary donations are received, Dyson said he will get a bank check from Norwood Bank to donate to Samaritans Purse to aid the victims of last week’s devastating hurricanes.