Being Santa is its own reward

He’s everywhere this time of year. Beard, red suit, black boots. He’s in the mall, on the fire truck, at the town Christmas tree lighting. Tall or short, padded or natural, he’s Santa Claus and the kids know he’s real. Being Santa can be exciting. Just as “him.” The Byram Township Fire Department generally assigns Santa duties to probationary firemen, although nearly all of the firemen have ridden the truck with carols blaring. Actually, each of Byram’s fire houses sends a truck around, but they plot the roads carefully, so they never pass each other. The first Byram firetruck Santa was Larry Putz, back in the 1980s. About the second year he was Santa, there was a fire call in the middle of the trek. “There I was,” he said, “fire hat, fire coat and bright red pants, spraying water on a car fire.” Tom Penny of Newton has been Andover Borough’s official Santa for eight years. For the past three, one little girl would bring her letter to Santa -- and he saves every letter -- she would write it herself and until this year, it was just squiggly lines, but she would sit on his lap and “read” it line by line. This year, at 6 years old, the list was wirtten in real words. Her spelling is typical 6-year-old spelling, but they were actual names of toys she wanted. John Pappalardo doubles up his Santa duties. He does the Byram Township holiday party/tree lighting and has for the past two years. He has also been Santa and for Partnership for Social Services holiday party in Franklin for seven years. He explains his success this way: When a child is cautious and shy of Santa, he wins them over by talking with them; at the end of the conversation they always give him a hug and say, “Bye bye, Santa.” The hugs he gets from the children is what he loves best. Alan Power, the father of six, has been Santa for Lafayette Village for eight years — he rides in Friday after Thanksgiving on the fire truck with his wife as Mrs. Claus. He then spends every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. as Santa. He recalls a little boy peeking around the corner of the building, seeing him in his red suit and yelling “Get me outta here.” Some encounters are touching, rather than funny. Once, a little girl who was unable to speak or hear sat on his lap with her mother standing nearby translating her sign language for Santa. Mom had cleverly taught Santa to sign “I love you,” and when he used it, the little girl was overjoyed to know that Santa knew how to speak to her.