ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Santa Claus is not only coming to Escondido he's there after a decade long absence. In this Zevely Zone, I went to see a holiday tradition that is back in business.
For 25 years, it was an Escondido tradition: the Muffler Man at Joor Muffler & Auto Service dressed up as Santa Claus. But 10 years ago, the fun suddenly stopped and people like Megan Nowicki started asking, "Ah, why? Why did they stop?"
For answers, I spoke to Nicky Manning, the owner of Joor Muffler & Auto Service.
"A lot of frustration and vandalism," said Nicky.
The $6,000 he spent on the suit was often destroyed by people who are definitely going on Santa's naughty list.
"They would light his suit on fire. He has had graffiti sprayed on him," said Nicky.
If that wasn't bad enough, one time the rain turned Santa's suit pink. So, Nicky bagged the tradition and boy was it missed.
Call it Santa serendipity, but look who moved in across the street? Sickel’s Fabrics & Upholstery and Michelle Guillen who says her husband Ray is like Mr. Christmas.
"We remembered the Santa suit when we were kids and he was bugging me every year, he wanted it back up," said Michelle.
Her husband kept saying, "This is the year, let's get it done, let's do it."
Her husband, Ray Guillen, is a firefighter and firefighters get things done, so they started sewing.
"I have a picture of my husband laying in it and the Santa suit jacket and he looks like a little kid trying on his dad's suit, you know. It's hilarious," said Michelle.
Fifty yards of fabric and 50 hours of labor later and the 20-foot-tall Santa Claus in front of Joor Muffler and Auto Service was getting all dressed up. This time the Santa suit is made out of a fabric called Sunbrella which should withstand sun and rain for at least a decade. Those were some big shoes to fill, but Santa is back as a gift to the community.
"They love it, you know. We get a lot of thumbs up. We get a lot of phone calls. A lot of appreciation," said Nicky.
Mufflers are supposed to quiet things down, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas so we all got loud and sang the famous Christmas carol "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
The Joor Muffler Man is built out of fiberglass. Nicky Manning thinks it was bought at a trade show by the shop's original owner in the 1960s.