When Timothy Koster first slipped on the red suit, it wasn’t magic – it was a $20 Halloween costume, a borrowed belt, and a pillow under his shirt. And he didn’t even want to do it.

“I didn’t want to be Santa,” he said. “I didn’t even have a beard at the time. But people kept saying, ‘You’re the kind of person who should be Santa.’ So finally, I said OK.”

That first visit was for a church event. Despite the humble costume and fake beard, the reaction floored him. “People wouldn’t stop talking about it. They said I was the best Santa they’d ever seen. I thought it was terrible!” But word spread. The next year, 15 more people asked him to come. “Eventually I told my mom, if I’m going to keep doing this, I need a better suit.” She sewed him one.

Today, years later, Santa performs over 80 visits every holiday season, working with military families, law enforcement, local charities and hundreds of Utah kids.

Christmas Eve is Santa’s busiest night. “Last year I went until two in the morning,” he said. “The day before, I hydrate a lot. You don’t get many bathroom breaks.” He also keeps multiple pairs of gloves ready – “in case a kid’s sticky, or someone has a dog, you need backups.”

His wife helps manage the bookings and addresses. “We plan everything – what presents are being given, what names I need to remember,” Koster said. “It’s a business, but also deeply personal. Every visit should feel magical.”

Santa’s signature moves? A simple “magic trick” for each child, making them feel chosen and seen. But his real gift is emotional presence.

“My bread and butter is making each child feel like they’re the most important person in the world,” he said. “That someone is listening, someone cares.”

Even his voice changes slightly. “Not too growly,” he said. “But a little deeper to sound more like Santa.”

Some visits he’ll never forget. One Christmas Eve, he visited a home where a wheelchair-bound child had recently passed away. “It was bittersweet. I’ve held that little girl in my arms since she was in her mom’s belly,” he said. “That night, she was sitting on my lap, smiling... then out of nowhere, she projectile vomited across the whole front row. It was chaos. But it’s those moments – imperfect, real –that stick with you.”

Then there was the Polar Express visit, a once-in-a-lifetime moment where he was asked to be Santa for terminally ill children on a special train ride. “They didn’t even tell me until I got on the train – that every child I’d see that night wouldn’t live to see another Christmas. It was overwhelming. But I was honored to be part of that memory.”

Playing Santa has changed his view of the holidays – and of people.

“It used to be about spreading cheer,” Koster said. “Now, it’s about loving everyone, the way I believe Christ would. With absolute, unconditional love.”

He doesn’t stop being Santa when the season ends, either. “Kids see me in Walmart in January and whisper, ‘That’s Santa!’ I stay in character. I don’t get to take the suit off. But I don’t want to.”

When asked what keeps the magic of Santa alive, he said, “We all want joy, kindness, and peace. Santa brings that – even for adults. Just for a moment, we forget our worries and feel seen. That’s what makes Santa timeless.”