By Roberta Clayton
Mark and Cindy Savoldi moved to Holly Springs in 1999 when their oldest child was just six years old. Many years later, this family of eight still gathers to view their favorite holiday movies together — and the list gets long. First on the list is always “Elf,” which came out in 2003 and stars Will Ferrell, with James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, and Mary Steenburgen. It also features Frosty the Snowman and a narwhal. Ferrell admits, “Twenty years later, it’s still a pop culture obsession.” The Savoldi family’s next three favorite films are “Home Alone,” “The Santa Clause,” and “A Christmas Story.” On it goes, through all the usual stories, the cartoon features, and into the Hallmark specials. Perhaps you do the same.
“Elf,” however, is the film that sparked the imagination of a suburban dad with a sense of joy as big as Santa’s bag of toys. He didn’t just watch. Like the Grinch, he felt the stirrings of a heart that grew until it needed more room. That’s why in 2007 Mark asked Cindy to make him a very special costume for Halloween. Finding a pattern was the hard part. She searched the pattern books at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, found a pattern for a Civil War soldier’s uniform and said, “I can make this an elf costume.” The outfit was completed in two or three days.
Cindy cut away the sides of the coat, adapted the furry white collar and cuffs, and added gold trim. She also improvised the hat, belt, and shoes. For the tights, she dyed a pair of heavy thermal underwear bright yellow. In the ensuing years certain features have been upgraded. They found better yellow tights. Mark ordered a vinyl Santa Claus belt that was festive and bold but way too big. He added lots of holes to make it tighter, and another loop to hold the long end and keep it from flapping. Eventually an online search request for “elf shoes” yielded the perfect pair with curling toes, ordered by mail. And a couple of years ago, he added a curly wig. The next upgrade is likely to be a revision of the hat.
From the start, Mark shared, it was such a good costume that “I started getting asked to wear it to Christmas parties.” Then one year the Savoldi daughters asked him to dress up as Buddy when they went to the Holly Springs Christmas parade — not to be in the parade but simply to bring joy to those sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the parade to start. “I was just a spectator, yet over 100 people asked me to be in their selfies.” The next year, the girls saw online that “a fellow in Boston would dress as Buddy and go downtown and start pillow fights with random people.” Mark decided to do the same, except “I brought two pillows to start impromptu pillow fights, but I always asked first. People loved it. One year I brought cotton ‘snowballs’ to show off my Buddy skills. Everyone wanted a piece of me.” He brought enough snowballs to share “for little kids to throw at me.” Then he scooped up his ammo and shared the snowballs again.
“When the Holly Springs Interfaith Alliance started entering the parade,” Mark said, “it was decided that I should walk by the float as Buddy, handing out candy and generally spreading cheer. Now, each year I arrive before the parade starts and walk the route backwards, interacting with the spectators as I go. Then I join the float and walk it forwards. People still want to take selfies with me. They ask, ‘Hey Buddy, what’s your favorite color?’”
I asked if it was difficult to wear the costume, thinking of how hot it is for costume characters at theme parks like Disney, for example. Mark admitted that it can be. “One time they held a 5k race at Cisco to raise money for the food bank. It was hot and that was hard.” The race tee shirt added another layer on a hot day, and he had to drink extra water. But on one very cold parade day, he added an extra pair of thermals under those yellow tights.
In December 2023, he was asked by Lori Edwards, a friend who is a NICU nurse at UNC Rex on Lake Boone Trail in Raleigh, to make the holiday special for the families of the tiny preemies. One of Lori’s duties is to find ways to lift spirits. There were “probably two dozen babies there, whose gestational age was 25 to 30 weeks.” She got permission from all the parents to have a visit from Buddy the Elf and take keepsake photos. She brought props to adorn each little bundle. There was a snowman, a gingerbread man, a wrapped gift, an elf, a bear, and others. Buddy got to hold some of the babies, while others were photographed with him standing beside their incubator, wearing a mask. He was invited back again in 2024 and hopes to return this year as well.
What traits does Mark see in Buddy the elf? There’s the childlike innocence, a special joy for life, the importance of family, and his search to find his father. “When everybody sings together, Santa’s sleigh begins to rise. That’s the effect of faith.” The elves were a big family, and big families often bring a creative group effort to making traditions and adding fun to routine situations.
Three of Mark’s grandparents were born in Italy, one arriving in the US as an infant. On the day of our interview, Mark, Cindy, and Mark’s parents, Tom and Pia Savoldi of Marietta, Georgia, were flying to Italy for three weeks to visit relatives. Mark is the middle of Tom and Pia’s five children, and they are justly proud of him for many reasons. How satisfying it is for a mother to say, “He was valedictorian of his class, and then graduated from Purdue summa cum laude.” Tom added, “Our kids are unbelievable. All five.” The elder Savoldis have 23 grandchildren, another eight by marriage, and 14 great-grandchildren.
Pia says Mark has been serving others “his whole life.” The a capella quintet that he formed sang at nursing homes, schools, and churches. He collected food donations at the State Fair as a Cisco employee. He served for Hewlett-Packard in California as a visiting scientist in local schools. He has worked at Habitat for Humanity. As the head of the Holly Springs Interfaith Alliance, he helps organize cultural exchanges and special holiday activities in conjunction with town events so all can become familiar with the meaning and practice of different customs and celebrations. Events have included Eid al-Fitr, Easter, Christmas, Diwali, Holi, Hanukkah, and Holocaust memorial. You can learn more, or become involved, through their website, https://hsinterfaithalliance.com.
Many of you remember attending performances of “Finding Patience,” a paean to the spirit of Holly Springs through the years. It was first staged as a play in 2017, and then as a musical in 2022. In both productions, Mark had a major role as the tragic hero, based on the death of Holly Springs resident Derek Davis. He was also one of the Civil War soldiers and sang in that role.
As you can see, Mark has a habit of finding ways to serve and honor his community. Buddy the Elf is the lighthearted side of those efforts. Thanks, Buddy, for letting us all enjoy your cheery, childlike antics, right here in Holly Springs.
