The Night Dad Played Santa

Dad had never played Santa Claus before, not to the extent of putting on
the white fringed red suit and the big white beard - but one year he did.

He was not sure he could get away with it, though, without the kids at Grove Park
Methodist Church knowing who he really was. The rented costume came with a mask and Dad decided the mask was the way to go but there had to be a way to make certain.

Sis at age 6 knew who Santa was and she knew who Dad was, so Dad figured if he could fool her, he could fool anybody. The night of the church Christmas party arrived.
Dad decided to stage a dress rehearsal.

I was a wise, all knowing 15 year old growing up in Atlanta in 1961 and had lost my faith in the Jolly Old Elf, chalking him up with other legends like the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. I was given my instructions.

"O.K.," Dad said, "here's what. "You get her to the bedroom window, I'll be outside and then all you got to do is say, 'Hey Sis, look, there's Santa Claus!' You got that?"

"O.K. Dad, I got it," I replied, anticipating the scene to come with suppressed glee.

To make sure Sis saw him through the window, Dad was all set with a flash light to show off the red suit, white beard, and Saint Nick mask. I guided Sis into the room, asking her to help me find a lost pocket knife. We were directly in front of the window.

"Sis, Look! It's Santa Claus!" I shouted.

Peering through the window we saw a shadowy crimson apparition whose facial features were garishly illuminated by a mysterious glow from its lower body. The apparition spoke.

"Ho, Ho, Ho, Darlin', it's Santa Claus!!"

Sis jumped under the bed and would not come out. "Make it go away! Make it go away!," she cried.

"Sis, its Santa Claus," I implored, "he came just to see you!"

"Make it go away!", said the voice from under the bed. "I want Daddy!"

I looked up at the window and Dad was gone.

To this day I don't know how he got out of that Santa outfit and back into his work shirt and pants so quickly. Before I knew it he was in the bedroom. I pointed under the bed. Dad looked under it.

"Hey ,Baby,what are you doing under there?"

"Oh ,Daddy, it was bad!" Sis exclaimed as she crawled out and jumped
into his arms. "There was this booger in the window trying to be Santa Claus, but he
was scary!"

"It's all right, Baby, ain't nothing there now," Dad said, holding her
tight. "Hey, you know what? It's almost time for the Christmas party at church and I hear the real Santa Claus is going to be there. Now, let's get ready to go."

Dad ditched the mask. He opted instead for excessive make-up from Mom's dresser and hoped for the best.

It turned out that Dad was quite a Santa.

He made his grand entrance, sat down in front of the Christmas tree with all the presents and "ho, ho, ho'ed" with the best of them. None of the kids knew who he really was. All they knew was that he was Santa. Well, one of them suspected.

"Daddy, is that you?," Sis asked grinning when it was her turn to sit in
his lap.

"Why no, little girl, ho, ho, ho, I'm Santa Claus!," he said. "Your Dad's out there in the audience somewhere."

I was helping hand out the presents. I looked up at Santa Claus, and winked. The "Santa Booger" winked back as he listened to Sis recite her wish list.

Jerry Gunn is a reporter for WDUN NEWS TALK 550, MAJIC 1029, SPORTS RADIO 1240 THE TICKET and AccessNorthGa.com.