T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Santa (Todd Egleston) and his team — from left to right, Lisa Pieters, Brooke Vaughn, Leia Collins and Lori Egleston — pose for a photo at the new Santa’s Workshop inside the Nicholas Center on Friday afternoon. The address is 2501 S. Center St. Ste. D.
For the last 25 years, Santa’s Workshop, led by the big man himself aka Todd Egleston, has been a fixture inside the Marshalltown Mall around the holiday season, but the recent power shutoff and subsequent closure of the common area at the order of the fire marshal forced St. Nick and his crew to look for a new home.
Luckily, they found it across the street inside of the Nicholas Center, the strip mall that also houses entities like Subway, Guiding Star, T2K Nutrition and Dunham-Fritz Chiropractic. So in 2023, the place to go for Christmas fun is 2501 S. Center St. Ste. D.
“I feel sorry for the people at the mall. Even the mall manager (Scott Wacha), we graduated together. I feel terrible for him,” Egleston said. “We put out a feeler that we were gonna need a place to be, and the people at T2K, they got a hold of the manager here and told her the situation and she said that we could use this place because of the situation, which was painfully nice of them.”
For the uninitiated, it doesn’t cost anything to come in and talk to Santa, but those who visit can purchase picture packages, frames, snow globes, Santa mailboxes, and more — they can also view the expansive collection of hundreds of nutcrackers. Egleston, who joked that he’s legally authorized to sign a check as Santa Claus, stays busy every holiday season between the Marshalltown Holiday Stroll (where Michelle Garrett plays Mrs. Claus) and events in other nearby communities including Ames, and he noted that a shortage of professional Santas is beginning to emerge in the area.
“Because there are so few of us, (a colleague) and I work together on bookings and try to cover all the events. This year, I am just getting hammered with requests,” Egleston said.
Santa’s Workshop will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. until Dec. 23 — though the team was quick to note they won’t turn anyone away who’s waiting in line after those times. Anyone with more questions is encouraged to reach out to Egleston at (641) 691-4167, and if he doesn’t immediately respond, he’s probably busy working on one of his private snow removal jobs.
Pet nights will also be held in partnership with the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown on Dec. 12 and 19. With their holiday season and business previously in peril, Egleston and his wife Lori are thankful for the owners of the Nicholas Center — or the St. Nicholas Center, as they’re now calling it — for welcoming them into their new space.
“This is an ideal spot. We can do so much with it. We just want the kids to have a wonderful experience,” Lori said.
Egleston and his team of elves and other helpers are excited to carry on the tradition of providing a regional hub for those in search of Christmas cheer. They aren’t sure what their long term plans are, but they’re happy to have a home this year.
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