Betty Farr loves an audience. Now 88, she is more adept than ever at holding the attention of a rapt crowd, especially if it’s filled with children. Her favorite role — one she has played with aplomb for more than 60 years — is Mrs. Claus.
Every year, without fail, she hosts a huge holiday party at her Chanticleer home, open to anyone and everyone. For many regular attendees, it’s become the main event they look forward to year after year. Now, a third generation is piling into Farr’s magically decorated basement, eager for stories, songs, punch and cookies, always with Mrs. Claus at the center of the action.
“They line up to sit on the floor and listen to me,” she says. “I just love to bring happiness to children. That’s my goal. It’s fun to look out and see them. They know Miss Betty will have a party.”
Her oldest granddaughter, Riley Dannelly, says her grandmother has a special talent for connecting with children. “She is just able to captivate them,” Dannelly says. “Parents tell me that their kids who never sit still will just be hanging on her every word.”
It all started at Betty’s School of Dance, which Farr owned for several years when she was in her 20s. “I sold it after I had five kids, and then had two more,” she says.
After each class during the holidays, she’d sit the children in a circle and the storytelling would begin. Their response inspired her to take the performance to the next level.
“I invited myself to Augusta Circle Elementary,” where her children were students, she says. She cobbled together a Mrs. Claus costume, and Bette Waters provided piano accompaniment for holiday songs. Soon, they were going to nursing homes, children’s hospitals — any place that might need some holiday joy.
Eventually, her husband Judd Farr, who passed away in 2008 after 56 years of marriage, asked what she wanted for Christmas, and she told him all she wanted was a “real” Mrs. Claus costume.
“Costume Curio designed me an original costume,” she says, guessing that she had it made 40 to 50 years ago. She still wears the same one. “It means a lot to people,” she says. She jokes that she has stayed in shape all these years to make sure it still fits.
A growing audience
Later, the Mrs. Claus show headed even further afield, with Farr and Waters traveling to schools in Columbia and the Myrtle Beach area.
The party also evolved over the years, starting with family, neighbors and friends and then expanding with the community. “Everyone is invited, I don’t limit it,” she says. “There are no invitations, it’s just word of mouth.”
She doesn’t keep an exact head count, but the event has grown each year and has taken on a life of its own. Sometimes as early as summer, people start asking, “When’s the party?”
Farr has missed just one Christmas in 60 years; only being in the hospital could keep her away. That year — she thinks it was 2017 — she asked Dannelly to fill in as Mrs. Claus. “I called her from the hospital and said, ‘You have to do this!’ And she said, ‘What?!’” Farr recalls. “She had heard me tell the story for so many years … she went to my house and put the costume on and it fit perfectly.”
Dannelly, the oldest granddaughter, had thought the event might be canceled just this once, but of course, the indefatigable Farr was determined to keep the tradition going.
Dannelly was intimidated. “She’s got big shoes to fill,” she says. She tried to do her grandmother justice, but was thrilled when Farr was back in front of her adoring crowd the next year.
In 2020, due to COVID-19, her event went virtual, with a professional videographer streaming the performance. She had Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman on hand, and told stories as if the children were there. Requests for the video poured in, and Dannelly says the family is thrilled to have the performance captured for posterity.
This year, Farr was back in her happy place: in front of a crowd of children (and their parents, and grandparents). For Farr, spreading joy is what Christmas is all about. “I hope I don’t ever have to give it up, but I know I will one day,” she says. “But it’s natural for me to do it no matter what.”
Two of her biggest fans are Dannelly’s two kids, ages 5 and 2. “They think they are very special at the party,” Dannelly says with a laugh. “My kids think Mrs. Claus is their great grandmother.”
The inside scoop on Betty Farr, Greenville’s Mrs. Claus
The inspiration
When Farr was a little girl, she often went to the Greenville County Library, where a woman named Margaret Mahon read stories to children. “She had children’s hour, and I sat in a little brown chair, and I’d go every chance I got,” Farr recalls. “I always looked up to her. I wanted to be just like her and read stories to children.”
Reading vs. storytelling
While Mahon read the stories, Farr decided she would tell the stories instead, “because I can get the kids’ attention more if I’m more animated.” She always uses props to make sure the children can see what is happening.
The story
Farr tells the story of “Miss Flora McFlimsy’s Christmas Eve,” by Marian Curtis Foster, every year. The book, first published in 1949, is no longer in print, but she scoured eBay to find enough copies to give to her seven children. The story centers around a doll that comes to life on Christmas Eve.
Relationship status: A widow who was married to her late husband, Judd Farr, for 56 years, Betty Farr has been in a relationship with Dick Riley, former governor of S.C. and former U.S. Secretary of Education, for 11 years. “He never misses my parties,” she says. “He listens like a little kid.”
Her family: Farr has seven children, 15 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Business bona fides: Judd Farr bought Greenco Beverage Co. in 1965, and Betty Farr became CEO when he retired in 2004.
Around the community: A recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s most prestigious award, Greenville is dotted with evidence of how Farr has made a difference in the lives of children. A room is named for her at the Ramsey Family Branch of the Greenville Library System off Augusta Road. Grandma Betty’s Farm at the Children’s Museum of the Upstate was named in her honor, as is a costume room at The S.C. Children’s Theatre.
Fun fact: Farr won Dancing with the Carolina Stars, a fundraising event for Senior Action, at age 77, beating out contestants half her age.
