He may look grumpy, green and delightfully mean, but this Grinch isn’t out to swipe your Christmas roast beast – he’s far more interested in dropping it off at your doorstep with a generous side of laughter.
What began as a light-hearted idea after the long stretch of COVID lockdowns has grown (three sizes) into a full-blown holiday tradition for Langford’s Stan Schinners.
Hoping to lift spirits in a community that felt worn down, Schinners bought himself a Grinch costume to wear while working his side gig as a food delivery driver.
“People were unhappy and just depressed,” says the software salesperson by day. “I just wanted to cheer people up and boost morale.”
It worked immediately. Suddenly, he was delivering burgers, butter chicken and burritos, with an extra serving of cheers, smiles and belly laughs.
“People were just completely ecstatic – like just crazy,” he said.
Now, each year after Remembrance Day, Schinners pulls the fuzzy green suit back out of storage and launches into another season of Grinch-style mayhem.
And this is no off-the-rack suit anymore – the costume has evolved almost as quickly as his following.
“I’m a perfectionist, so I always want more and more,” says Schinners.
This year, he upgraded with a custom prosthetic mask from an Ontario maker, new mitts and a handful of other whimsical tweaks. He’s already ordered a second prosthetic, this one complete with eyebrows, which are missing from his current mask. But don’t worry, he’s already prepared a backstory to tell any curious kids who query their absence.
“I just tell them Max burnt them off making Who Hash,” he jokes.
Beyond deliveries, Schinner’s Grinch alter-ego now pops up at community events across Langford, where he’s become a magnet for young fans.
At the launch of Langford’s Winter Fest in Veterans Memorial Park Dec. 5, he can barely take a step without a crowd of excited kids rushing in for high-fives and photos.
As his popularity as the Grinch has grown, so have the invitations. The Greater Victoria Festival Society invited him to march in this year’s Santa Claus parade in downtown Victoria – a bucket-list moment that left Schinners grinning wider than his latex prosthetics allowed.
Now he’s gearing up for Candy Cane Lane Christmas Market at the Saanich Fairgrounds on Dec. 13 and 14, and even a possible Grinch-themed pub crawl later in the month.
“Parents can get pictures with me so they can tell their kids that if they misbehave, they’ve got a direct line to the Grinch,” he says.
But through it all, he keeps doing deliveries, because that’s where the magic happens.
Recently, he dropped off food to a young woman, shared a quick selfie and thought nothing more of it. Hours later, he received a message from a person he thinks is her mother. “You are awesome,” it read. “She was having a mental health moment and you fixed it.”
“This is why I keep doing it,” says Schinners. “Because you never know what someone’s day has been like, you never know what they’re going through.
“You roll up to a stoplight and you see someone that looks like they’re having a bad day, and then they look over and their face just lights right up … that’s what makes it worth it.”