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28 January 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Kansas City Chiefs are aiming for their third Super Bowl appearance in the last four years. Tens of thousands of rowdy fans will be roaring from the Arrowhead Stadium stands, and that includes a legion of Chiefs “Super Fans.”
Along with all of their success on the field, the number of Chiefs “Super Fans” has grown. From “Arrowman” to “WeirdWolf” to the “Chiefs Pope,” they’re everywhere around Arrowhead on game day.
One of them hails from right here in Wichita.
Within a sea of red at Arrowhead Stadium, you’ll find a few fans that really stand out from the crowd.
There’s even a Santa Claus. But he’s not from the North Pole. No, this one drives up from Wichita for every game.
Don Lobmeyer is a retired Army National Guardsman who served four tours, including stints in Iraq, Africa, and Kuwait. On Sundays, Don paints his beard, climbs into a big red inflatable suit, laces up his shoes, and transforms into “Santa Ma Ho Ho Homes!”
After dressing as Santa Claus for his family for 20 years, Don created his signature Arrowhead logo hat to wear at Chiefs’ home games. After he came home from his last deployment in 2019, he participated in an event with Wichita’s Red, White, and Blue veterans group.
“We did the registration for the Santa Run, the Jingle Bell Run downtown. So, I wore the outfit and said, ‘Well, let me see if I can make a Chiefs Santa outfit out of this,’ and so that’s when I did the Ma-Ho-Ho-Homes on the back, name tape, and the 15 and saying ‘Merry Chiefsmas’ and just combined it all together, and it’s just gone on from there,” said Lobmeyer.
Santa Ma-Ho-Ho-Homes says he loves being a member of the Chiefs’ legion of “Super Fans.”
“It’s great. These guys are great. We do a lot of charity work, a lot of veterans that’s in the group too that help out with a lot too. So, it’s really neat getting with those guys and continuing to do things for our community and everything else after. Continue to serve,” he said.
Now, this Santa doesn’t come around only once a year. There’s a reason for that.
“It’s just bringing joy to the kids and the rest of the fans,” said Lobmeyer. “I can say the ‘Merry Chiefsmas’ and the ‘Ma-Ho-Ho-Homes!’ during a photo, and they just start to laugh naturally. It’s just the best feeling of all, you know, with those kids.”
KSN Photo
So, how does Santa Ma-Ho-Ho-Homes feel about Sunday’s match-up?
“I’m ready to go for the AFC championship. So, we need to beat Cincinnati this time, you know. We’re 0-and-3, right,” he said. “I think we got it. Our defense and offense are going good. I’m worried about Mahomes a little bit, but, you know, he does things which don’t seem possible.”
That sounds a lot like the jolly fella in the red suit from the North Pole.
“Ma-Ho-Ho-Homes, and a ‘Merry Chiefsmas’ to Chiefs Kingdom! We’ll bring that last present in the bag. So, the Chiefs got to be good for me to do that. Two more games. They got to be good to do that. So, we’ll see you, hopefully at the Super Bowl,” said Lobmeyer.