During the past couple of weeks, I had the good fortune to be Santa Claus.  No, wait, I mean I had the good fortune to accompany Santa Claus, as he made a couple of visits to Winters.  I hope you will be amused, surprised and touched to hear what people in Winters say to Santa, and what they ask him to bring them.  

Let me share some of my, uh, Santa’s, experiences, and tell you what people requested, how genuinely happy they are when they see him, and how deep the emotions of a child can be as they put their trust in Santa. 

It seems that just about everyone, young and old, wants to have a photo taken with Santa! From little 2-year old children to adults over 80, people just stop what they are doing, and jump up to be photographed with him. 

At the Community Center, Santa attended the Winters Friends of the Library Holiday event. A very old woman, with a clear twinkle in her eye, told Santa that she has been taking snapshots with Santa since before I was, uh, since before he was born! 

Another woman, probably 65 or so, came right over and sat on Santa’s knee, gave him a warm hug, and asked Santa to send her a new man in her life.  When Santa asked her if she wanted a good-looking man, she said that looks are not really important, but just make sure to find one with plenty of money!  Santa smiled, laughed heartily, and promised he’d see what he could do! 

While most of the children asked for the latest popular items: Legos; Transformers; Power Rangers; Hey Clay Dinosaurs; Scribble Stone books; Nintendo or Wii;  and anything Frozen; there was one heart-felt and touching request that really caused Santa to come close to tears.  

A little boy, who was about 7 years old, sat in Santa’s lap, and listened attentively as Santa asked him what would he like for Christmas.  With a face filled with sadness and compassion, and in a soft but firm voice, he told Santa that the ONLY thing he wanted for Christmas was for his mother to finally be happy next year.  

Santa was nearly overcome with surprise and emotion, as I tried, I mean, as he tried to find just the right response.  After a few seconds, Santa told the little boy that he would try his best to bring a better year for the boy’s mother, a new year hopefully filled with happiness and joy for her almost every day.   

Believe me, Santa was a bit shaken with sadness, just thinking about how difficult day to day life must be for that little boy and his mom, and how remarkably unselfish her son was to ask only for his mother to be happy again, and not ask for even one thing for himself. 

A few evenings later, at both Turkovich Wines and Preserve Restaurant, Santa could hardly walk five steps before another person called out for a photo with the man in the big red suit. And when I walked through, I mean, of course, when Santa walked through the Buckhorn bar, posing for photos with numerous new friends, some of the people eating in the Buckhorn dining room left their tables to come and ask Santa to join them for a Christmas dinner family photo! 

Toward the end of the evening, in downtown Winters, a group of excited young teens gleefully ran toward and surrounded Santa on the sidewalk, near Eagle Drug.  After the group all shook hands with Santa, and told him that they wanted new clothing, new cell phones, and plenty of gifts for their siblings and parents, the teens all wandered off down the street.   

But one member of that group, a 14 or 15-year girl, stepped away from her friends, and ran half a block to catch up with again with Santa.  With wide eyes, and a gentle voice she asked me, I mean, she asked Santa, if he could tell her how she could know if her boyfriend really loves her!  

Santa had never heard this question before, but as she took both of his hands in hers to await his reply, he thoughtfully told her that if her boyfriend treats her as the most important person in his life, if he always tries to think of her needs before his own, and if he never lies to her, then she has found someone who truly loves her.  

She gave Santa a big hug, a kiss on the cheek, and ran off to catch up with her friends. Santa briefly closed his eyes, sighed a bit, and felt pretty darn good about his answer! 

And as Santa turned the corner near the new Winters Hotel, as he headed home to the North Pole, a delightful 3-year old boy saw him, left his parents behind, ran up to Santa, gave him a big long hug, and said “I love you Santa!”  

I could not think of a better way for me, I mean for Santa Claus, to finish his evening, in this very fine town of Winters.