The tale of many Santas
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brought a baby boy dressed in a Santa Claus suit to visit him.

He also recalls funny conversations with curious kids about his reindeer. During one home visit, Ferguson says, a little boy asked him why he showed up in a car instead of with Rudolph and the gang. After Ferguson told him that his grandpa was feeding Santa’s reindeer in the nearby field, the little boy called to check his story.

Moms and dads often ask Santas to help deal with naughty children. Guernsey has been asked to tell kids to “go to the potty,” and Spellbrink recently talked to a little girl about getting into trouble at school. The magic of Santa knowing always boggles their minds, he says.

Other children have surprised the Santas by asking them for a better life at home or for something special for family in heaven. Spellbrink especially remembers one recent conversation with a little boy in Williamsville.

“I asked him what he’d like to have for Christmas, and he looked me square in the eye and said, ‘Happiness. I want everybody to be happy,’” Spellbrink says. “That touches the heart. We have a few every now and again who say that, or want Dad to come home from Iraq.”

Wendling was touched by one older woman’s request to sit on her husband Dennis’s lap. The woman had always wanted to visit with Santa, but didn’t because she was in a wheelchair. Her husband granted the woman’s request by picking her up and setting her on his knee.

“The next year, the family came back and said she had passed away right after Christmas,” Wendling says. “They had buried her with the pictures.”

These local men all have their reasons for becoming Santa.

Guernsey looks at it as a ministry. Some kids come to him with 19 to 20 presents on their lists, so he gently reminds them of the reason for the season. He asks them if they know whose birthday is celebrated on Christmas.

“I tell them that this is Jesus’ birthday,” he says, “but it’s a different kind of birthday party. Instead of him getting all of the presents, he gives them to you kids.”

Wendling’s husband, Dennis, had been Santa for 37 years when he died from a heart attack in August at age 68. He came from modest means, she says, and didn’t have the most exciting Christmases as a child.

“He was the sort of person who was a little uncomfortable in his own skin, but once he put on his Santa Claus suit and started dealing with kids, his inward self came out,” she says. “He was trying to give kids something he didn’t have himself.”

Wendling hasn’t given up on being Mrs. Claus. She’s continued to make costumes and appear at local churches, libraries and schools. She also founded the Santa Dennis’ Spirit of Christmas Giving, a fund that raises money for children’s Christmas gifts. Supporters have already donated $3,000.

Spellbrink became Santa out of necessity that one day in the mall, but he’s told his wife that he’s going to keep at it. There’s something about seeing an instant smile from the people who stop by to see Santa Claus.

“Once you put on the red suit, there’s something magical that takes place,” he says. “It just changes you. You want to live out positive things and be a positive role model for children.”

Ferguson agrees that he becomes Santa for the kids: “Just to see their smiling faces and their sparkling eyes. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Contact Amanda Robert at [email protected].