Santa Mike Wraps up a Busy Year!
When we were young we were told that after Santa’s Big Day of December 25, he was allowed a bit of time to rest up before launching into a new year.
Ohio Valley resident Mike Slenski, also known as “Santa Mike”, certainly fits into that category.
For the past several years, he’s filled the role of Barnesville’s Santa during Christmas in the Ville activities. He flips the switch at Oglebay Park’s Festival of Lights and makes appearances throughout the Ohio Valley region and the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
He was a featured keynote presenter at the Appalachian Ohio regional tourism meeting that took place in St. Clairsville early in December sharing the life of the original St. Nicholas and his own life’s journey from an interesting career at WTRF-TV to today’s “Santa Mike”.
For 2026, “Santa Mike” produced two calendars for sale to the public including “Santa Visits Belmont County, Ohio” that includes many county landmarks and sites. Separate spreads feature Barnesville, Epworth Park, Morristown and Barkcamp State Park.
Santa Mike has his own Facebook profile found here.
Barnesville Area News Needs Your Support!
We're dedicated to providing coverage of the local happenings in Barnesville and the neighboring communities.
As a non-profit entity, we rely on the donations of readers like you.
Make a donation today and you'll be helping keep local news alive in the Barnesville area.