Mike Hall has been playing Santa Claus for 17 years, but it wasn’t originally his idea to do it.

Hall’s family owns General Rental Center in Cranberry Township, which has a Santa suit in its inventory.

Knowing that he already had access to a suit, Hall got a call from a friend years ago who asked if he could play Santa for a Make-A-Wish Foundation event.

He gave it a shot and he loved it.

“I was hooked on playing Santa after that,” he said.

“It’s not a hard act to do. Working with the Make-A-Wish kids, it was rewarding and humbling.”

Once word of mouth spread that Hall was a pretty good Santa, he started getting lots of requests to work at a variety of events, both public and private.

He also went out and bought a couple of expensive, authentic looking Santa suits complete with fur-trimmed boots.

This year he says he has 27 jobs booked totaling more than 80 hours of work.

His first gig of 2015 was at Light Up Night at Station Square in downtown Pittsburgh.

He is booked for events with Glade Run Lutheran Services, Alameda Park, Shadrack’s Christmas Wonderland at the Big Butler Fairgrounds, Pinehurst Home Owners Association in Cranberry, and Adams Ridge in Adams Township.

Hall said he enjoys the work and hopes to do it for at least 25 years total.

“I enjoy giving back; its just a really rewarding time playing Santa Claus,” he said.

Though he didn’t have any background in acting or performance, Hall said he has read a couple books written specifically about playing Santa.

A typical interaction with a child takes only a couple minutes. He asks them if they have been a good boy or girl this year and then he asks them what they would like for Christmas.

But inquisitive young minds can often toss him curve balls.

“There is a responsibility when you put that suit on. You need to stay in character. There are things you should and should not do and say,” he said.

One important thing to keep clear when talking to children is that Santa is a toy manufacturer. He can’t promise them any other types of gifts. One frequent request made by children is for a pet, but he simply tells them they need to ask their parents about that.

Some children also try to pull on Santa’s beard to see if it is real. Though many Santas grow a real beard, Hall wears a fake one, but says he plays along with the beard tugging by leaning forward and saying “oww.”

Some children are scared or nervous to sit on Santa’s lap, and not just because he is a stranger. “A lot of parents, they tell their kids he’s watching, he knows whether you’re naughty or nice, so they kind of make Santa out to be the bad guy,” he said.

There is a big demand in the region for Santa Claus to appear at various holiday events. Hall said he has taken on more work than ever this year. He’s even turned down some jobs.

“There is still a lot of belief in Santa,” he said. “There is still a lot of the magic out there.”