Photo by Savannah Schmidt
Santa makes his list and checks it twice. Joe Wells, known as Alabama Santa Joe, will play Santa during this year's Mountain Brook Holiday Parade on Dec. 8, 2024.
As Santa checks his list for the second time, hundreds of Mountain Brook children are making last-ditch efforts to ensure they don’t see any coal in their stockings.
Others are planning to stay up all night on Christmas Eve in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Kris Kringle as he shimmies down their chimney. They can also spot him atop a fire truck at Mountain Brook’s annual Holiday Parade on Dec. 8.
The parade will wind through Mountain Brook Village starting at 3 p.m., beginning at Mountain Brook Office Park and traveling down Cahaba Road. Nearly 1,000 people will line the streets to take in the festivities.
“It's an amazing holiday tradition that just feels so magical and makes the Mountain Brook community really feel the holiday spirit,” said Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce communications manager Shelby Weir.
Joe Wells, better known as “Alabama Santa Joe,” will be this year’s Santa in the parade. Wells is a long-time Mountain Brook resident and has lived within half a mile of his current home in Crestline since birth.
Wells and his family are members at Mountain Brook Baptist Church and he works as an IT manager for the Health Services Foundation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier Catholic School and John Carroll High School and moved to the family’s Crestline home in 1997 when his daughter, Emily, started school.
“I remember going to the parade when my children were small,” Wells said. “I just remember seeing how the children were so excited to see Santa coming down the street on the fire truck. And I look forward to experiencing that joy as Santa.”
His journey to becoming the holiday figure began in 2016 after he didn’t shave during the week leading up to Christmas, and his son, Ed, recommended he grow out his beard. A year later, Wells had a full beard and strangers began commenting on his resemblance to Father Christmas around the holiday season. He hasn’t shaved since, except for a few maintenance trims, of course.
“I had a little bit of encouragement from strangers I didn't even know,” Wells said. “When it all came together, though, was in December of ‘21. Our church goes to Perry County each year on a mission trip of sorts, and they do a small version of the living nativity there. And an older lady, Joe Wills, came up to me during our living nativity, and she stroked my beard, and she said, ‘You need to come to Perry County with me and be our Santa.’”
After he spoke to a friend, Traci Allen, about the encounter, Allen expressed interest in making Wells a Santa suit. They spent the next year designing the outfit, and Wells officially stepped out of the house as Santa in 2022.
Photo by Savannah Schmidt
Santa sit by the fireplace at Mountain Brook Bapist Church. Joe Wells, known as Alabama Santa Joe, will play Santa during this year's Mountain Brook Holiday Parade on Dec. 8, 2024.
“I did a handful of appearances, primarily for our church and for a school that's down the street,” Wells said. “And then last year, I did a few more and just did some impromptu things like taking a stroll around the Crestline and Mountain Brook Villages, and it has been incredibly fun.”
As for how he landed the parade gig, Wells simply asked. The idea crossed his mind earlier this spring, and he wondered if the city had already filled the role for this year, so he contacted City Manager Sam Gaston to inquire about it. Gaston looped in the chamber, which organizes the parade, and they later reached out to Wells to see if he would be interested in participating.
“The chamber plans, markets, advertises and executes the event,” Weir said. “We also work with public works and MBPD to create the route and for safety/barricades. We implement digital, print and social media marketing. We decorate the entire stage and children's village and organize all the floats and their lineup.”
Wells agreed to the task, of course, and is preparing for his debut appearance for the city of Mountain Brook.=
“I'll ride right on the fire truck through town, through Mountain Brook Village,” he said, “and then at the end of the fire truck route, there’s supposed to be a staging area. I'll go and sit there and kids can come up to see Santa and get their pictures made.”
There will be a kid's zone filled with crafts, games, face painting and storytime while children wait in line for photos. While children are Santa’s primary target audience, Wells says it's not just young people that get excited at the sight of his red suit and beard.
“Santa seems to transcend all ages,” he said. “I've held newborns, and obviously a newborn is not going to give
Photo by Savannah Schmidt
Santa peeks through the window of Mountain Brook Bapist Church. Alabama Santa Joe, or Joe Wells, is a lifelong Mountain Brook Resident who puts on the suit for charity and church events every year.
you much reaction, but the small children, the wonderment and joy in their eyes, all the way up to those that are in their 80s and 90s, they all smile. And I think it brings back wonderful memories for most people.”
It's also something that brings Wells a tremendous amount of happiness.
“Selfishly, it gives me great joy too, because it is just fun. It is just absolute fun,” he said. “Like me and my children walked around Mountain Brook Village one night last Christmas season, and as we would pass a restaurant, the reaction of both the adults that were dining in there and the children, people would point and laugh and smile. A few people came out of the restaurant running towards us to get pictures. And it was just absolute fun, absolute joy.”
To partake in the holiday cheer, head over to Mountain Brook Village on Dec. 8 to see Wells as Santa and over 35 local businesses, chamber members, school organizations, Scout troops, the Dorians and more at Mountain Brook’s annual Holiday Parade, which they have been hosting for well over a decade.
Courtesy of Mountain Brook Police Department
Floats will line up on the roadways in Office Park Circle and begin the parade by turning left onto Cahaba Road and travel straight to the northern end of Culver Road. The procession will turn right and cross Montevallo Road onto Petticoat Lane, continue straight onto Culver Road, and then turn left back onto Cahaba Road. The parade will return to Office Park Circle, where it will disperse.
The Mountain Brook Police Department encourages patrons to carpool or rideshare services as parking in the area is limited, and roads will be closed for the event. Beginning at 2 p.m., no vehicular traffic will be permitted along the parade route until the conclusion of the parade—including vehicles that are parked. Public Works will install temporary fencing along the entire parade route. At the conclusion of the parade, roadways inside the traffic circle will remain closed until all pedestrians are out of the street.
Aside from the parade, you can likely catch Wells as Santa on spontaneous strolls through the Mountain Brook villages during the holiday season, and he still plans to make a few appearances for his church and other events.
If you’d like to inquire about a Santa appearance, contact Wells at alabamasantajoe@att.net.
