Spreading the holiday cheer

GRUNDY CENTER – You can find him walking down the streets of Grundy Center, bells jingling with every step. You’ll notice the cars honking, the children waving and people craning their heads for a better view. He’s the man with the big white beard, sporting a bright red jacket trimmed in white. His name is Marty Hill, and he spends his time spreading the Christmas spirit by dressing up as the Jolly Old Saint Nick.
Hill first got the calling a few years back, he says, when a random man approached him and told him how much he resembled Santa Claus with his big white beard.
At first Hill just laughed, but the man insisted that he had an old Santa suit that he would give to him if he wanted it. To that, Hill said ‘why not?’ And the rest, as they say, is history.
Hill, who retired from John Deere a number of years back, now spends his Christmas seasons visiting nursing homes, private parties, and even street corners to spread the Christmas spirit.
“A lot of people look at me like I’m an idiot, and they see me and wonder, ‘what’s wrong with that guy?” he said. “But I don’t care. I have a lot of fun – it’s a blast.”
Hill does most of his work in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, as well as Tama, and a few events in Grundy County. 
Like other Santa doubles, Hill walks around and talks to everyone at his events, takes photos with fans, hands out candy to the kids, and takes the occasional request for a Christmas gift.
But unlike many Santa doubles, Hill doesn’t accept payment for his time. In fact, he refuses it.
“I tell people if they try to pay me, I wont do it. I feel that it would take the fun out of it,” he said. “But I tell them what they can do is donate any money they would have paid me to my wife’s memorial fund [which is the Joy Ruth Hill memorial at the Cedar Valley Hospice in Grundy Center].”
Hill said that even though he could have made a lot of money through the years, it isn’t about that for him – it’s about spreading the holiday cheer.
The best part about his job, he says, is seeing the kids’ faces light up when they see him.
“A lot of times I’ll walk down the street and kids will run up to me, and even adults, and they’ll ask to take a picture with me,” he said. “It just makes you feel really happy. That’s really what it’s all about.”  
But playing Santa isn’t all snowflakes and reindeers all the time.
Hill said that sometimes, people will see him walking around in his Santa suit and judge him, but he doesn’t let the negativity affect him too much. In fact, his life motto is “just goof off, and have as much fun as possible.”
And not just during Christmas-time either.
“Everyday is my holiday,” he said. “As long as you can still get up, and walk, and you’re still above ground, it’s a holiday.”

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