When the Milburns dress up as Santa and Mrs. Claus, they embody all that is magical in the season.
Professional to a tee, they make absolutely sure everything is perfect.
Not just Santa's magnificent, flowing beard, or the bonnet that sits flawlessly on top of Mrs. Claus' head. But, down to the white sleeves Santa wears under his suit so that his skin doesn't show, to the miniature snow globe that hangs around Mrs. Claus' neck.
Jim and Donna Milburn have been playing the enchanting Claus couple professionally since 2010. They were inspired by Donna's father who was a well known Santa in Montreal in the 1970's. Donna also has two brothers who have been inspired to play the jolly old elf.
Jim met Donna while serving in the military in Montreal and the couple started dating in 1971. That was when Jim had his first foray as Frankie Elf.
Donna's father was so dedicated to the role of Santa that he would dress up in his red suit and hat at the crack of dawn every Christmas morning and battle snow storms to hand deliver presents to the less fortunate across the city.
He would go to the homes of between five and seven families, explained Jim, bringing presents in through the front door. Some gifts he would bring himself, but sometimes families would leave gifts on the porch for him to carry in.
"He had a gift," said Jim.
"He was the real Santa. When you met him, you knew he was the real Santa," he said.
He needed an assistant, and Jim was his guy.
So, Jim would drive him to all his appointments, while studying his act and learning as much as he could.
When Jim and Donna moved to the west coast, about 1986, Jim had been gifted Donna's father's Santa suits.
They would do very simple shows, said Jim, mostly on a volunteer basis.
But, it wouldn't be until 2010, when they started taking on the seasonal role professionally.
It was that year, during a show at the Bental Centre in Vancouver that the couple were playing clowns at, they made the acquaintance of Gillian Campbell and her husband Edward, who were there playing Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Gillian is most famously known for her portrayal of Klondike Kate, but she has also performed as Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. Claus, and Charlie Chaplin.
She is also an agent.
Gillian asked the Milburns if they wanted to work for her, she would provide the costumes. By this time, the Santa suits that had been gifted to Jim had been gifted to Donna's brother.
Gillian, noted Donna, only books high-end shows.
"She is very professional," added Donna, noting the agent only hires those who take the roles seriously with a lot of attention to the way they dress and act.
After they started with Gillian, they started booking entire seasons.
Now they are members of the Lower Mainland Professional Santas and mostly book their own engagements – a mixture of corporate events, schools, and day cares.
"When I go into a show, and Donna as well, it's the whole story behind us. You can't do a visit with Santa in one minute, 30 seconds. A visit with Santa, in my view, could be five minutes, 10 minutes, it depends on the interaction," he said.
What they love are seeing the children grinning from ear to ear when they see them.
"The grins that are ear-to-ear," he said.
Even though, equally as heartwarming are the children who are afraid to death of Santa.
"You get the cryers," noted Jim, with the parents going crazy trying to settle them down.
When that happens Donna and Jim have their parents sit with the child while they stand behind for the photo.
And, many times when children are afraid of Santa, they will gravitate towards Mrs. Claus instead. Donna finds that really special.
"Often I say I'm Grandma Claus," she explained. "Because I tell them, just like Grandma."
One of their favourite events is called Sensory Sunday in Surrey for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Over the years they have had a lot of laughs, like the time when Jim advised a child to try to help their parents by cleaning up the toys in their room but was told in all sincerity that it was alright because they had a nanny to do that for them.
But, they have also had moments where they struggled to find the right words.
This happened to Jim when a child told Santa that all he wanted for Christmas was for his parents to get back together again.
Jim still becomes choked up when he talks about it.
What he told the child was there are some things in life you just cannot change and he built a story around that.
Everybody on the set was in tears.
"I ended it by giving him a big hug," he said, adding that they had to close down the set for about 10 minutes for everyone to recompose themselves.
Donna, who just turned 71, and Jim, 74, have no plans to quit any time soon.
Although, Donna admits, they do take on a lot over the Christmas season.
"We don't have to quit, if we are enjoying what we are doing in life," she said, noting the children's smiles bring them the most enjoyment and the new friends they have made over the years.
