Santa Wayne

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

For 35 years, a dying mall had one thing that never faded: Santa Wayne. 

Now, weeks before Christmas, the man who kept Marley Station’s holiday spirit alive needs the community he spent decades pouring himself into.

If you grew up anywhere near Marley Station Mall, you already know the deal. Stores left. Corridors emptied. Foot traffic dried up.

But every December, one thing still brought families back through those quiet halls.

Santa Wayne.

Not a replacement.

Not a rotating cast.

Not one of those Santas who jumps from mall to mall.

Their Santa.

The one generations of kids grew up with.

The one parents still talk about.

The one who somehow kept the magic going while everything around him faded.

And now, he needs help.

A GoFundMe was launched by Rob Frost, the man behind the “Marley Station Mall Memories” Facebook group — a nostalgia hub packed with people who spent their childhoods inside that mall. 

Frost didn’t sugarcoat the mall’s decline.

“The last 15 years have not been kind to Marley Station,” he wrote on the fundraiser. “Shopping habits have changed, stores have closed, and the once busy and bustling corridors are now usually empty and quiet.”

But even as the mall emptied, Frost said one thing still drew crowds.

“Santa Wayne has been spreading holiday joy to generations of families and children at Marley Station for the last 35 years," the mall "historian" wrote.

“To many people in this area, Santa Wayne is their Santa.”

This year, the tradition barely got started.

According to Frost, Santa Wayne returned to Marley Station for the 2025 season. But “after a short time, it became apparent that he would not be able to continue due to health concerns.”

He is scheduled for heart surgery in January.

Frost said members of the group immediately asked if they could help. Someone suggested a GoFundMe. The response, he said, was “overwhelmingly positive.”

“This is not my project,” Frost wrote. “This is a group effort.”

And the tributes started pouring in.

Rachel Sanner went to see him this season and said the experience stunned her. The mall was nearly empty. No line. Just one little boy who had finished his photos.

Santa Wayne saw her from across the space and waved to her 17-month-old daughter. He spent “at least 10 minutes singing and clapping with her” before she felt safe enough to come closer.

“Guys, please — this Santa was incredible and patient and took the time to make my daughter feel safe,” Sanner wrote. She said the experience was so touching that she started crying. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us.”

She urged families to skip the big malls.

“Please — go see him.”

Another longtime visitor, Shelley Hammerbacher Fagan, said her heart “is breaking.” 

She shared decades of memories — from visiting him as a child, to working with him at the movie theater, to Santa Wayne being the photographer at her wedding.

She thanked him for “all the wonderful memories,” including how he remembered her son’s catcher’s equipment Christmas.

“Love ya Santa Wayne,” she wrote.

A separate update shared by a family member said they were “basically in awe at the outpouring of love since yesterday” and confirmed he stepped away early this season to focus on his health. They thanked supporters and asked for prayers ahead of his surgery.

They also reminded visitors that people may still see “a Santa” inside the mall this season — but Santa Wayne was the one who needed the community's support.

Frost said the goal is simple: help the man who gave everything to this community focus on healing without worrying about bills piling up.

“This is our opportunity to help repay the kindness and joy that Santa Wayne has brought to everyone over the last three-plus decades,” he wrote.

The fundraiser is live and growing as word spreads through the nostalgia group — and now beyond it.

Because even in a mall that has lost almost everything over the years, Santa Wayne never did.

And with Christmas around the corner, the community he once carried is trying to carry him right back.