Real Santa of Miller & Rhoads : The Extraordinary Life of Bill Strother

Author and former Miller & Rhoads Snow Queen Donna Strother Deekens recounts the amazing history of the Real Santa.

After the turn of the 20th century, young Bill Strother left the tobacco farms of North Carolina to make a living climbing buildings. He became known as the Human Spider, scaling countless structures across the nation. Yet this was just a prelude to his true calling as the Santa Claus at Richmond's famed Miller & Rhoads department store. As department stores everywhere reached their golden age, Strother became one of the most beloved and sought-after Santas in the nation.

Donna Strother Deekens is owner of Teapots, Treats & Traditions. She has performed professionally as an actress, soloist, entertainer and public speaker. She played the role of a Snow Queen to the Real Santa from 1971 to 1989 at the Miller & Rhoads department store in Richmond, Virginia. She is the author of three books, Christmas at Miller & Rhoads: Memoirs of a Snow Queen; Santaland: A Miller & Rhoads Christmas; Virginia's Legendary Santa Trains (co-authored with Doug Riddell) and “The Real Santa of Miller & Rhoads: The Extraordinary Life of Bill Strother”.  

Phillip L. Wenz is one of the most well-known and revered professional Santa's in the nation. He is the longest tenured Santa in the history of the Santa's Village theme park in Dundee, Illinois. He has appeared in over forty Christmas parades, numerous TV shows, billboards, commercials, magazines and large corporate and civic holiday events in some of the nation's largest cities. As an author he is considered the leading authority and historian on the Santa Claus legend, history and folklore.