Re: anyone ever play the part of SANTA?
 

yeah, one year my reserve unit's Santa couldn't be at the annual Christmas Family Day event, so they asked me to do it. They had the costume, and I used an emergency inflatable rubber raft (uninflated) to "pad" the occasion. It was fun.

Well, when we started our company 20 years ago, we supplied (and still do, but not as much, mostly private clubs now) Professional Santas, even had a "Santa School". I did a lot of time in the suit (still have my rabbit fur trimmed one) and we still have several suits, including Mrs Santa and Father Christmas. I use to be the Sawgrass Santa (yes, where the TPC is, and some of the fun things I got to do was be flown around in helicopters, ride in fire trucks and all sorts of cool cars. Bar parties were the greatest, was always a blast, hot chicks (at the adult parties) where fun too:D but, the most rewarding gigs didn't pay, they were the ones for abused kids home and in a mall in a bad part of town, just being nice to children who didn't have anything (gave away a lot of pix too) that most weren't going to get very much if anything for X-mas. Yes, it can be fun, rewarding but tear your heart apart too Funny that you bring this up, I was asked today to come out of Santa retirement for a gig after over 10 years (as my asthma which I developed in my mid 20s got worse, I couldn't take being in the beard & suit) and said that I would, I no longer need a fake belly either:rolleyes:

LOL, classic..

Byron, your mention of the poor kids and abused kids reminds me of the letters Johnny Carson used to read on The Tonight Show every year before Christmas... "letters to Santa" from kids who had nothing and expected nothing, asking only that Santa bring something for their mother or their siblings. The profound words of children. It hurt to hear those words, and I always cried when he read those letters. After a few minutes, Johnny himself would start to cry and he'd have to stop reading, and then he would put up an address and explain how we could help such children.

That was one of the best things he ever did. I wonder if Leno or Letterman do something like that?