The Real Santa Claus

Just a couple of samples of what I've been up to recently. In case you care and stuff.

BETHLEHEM - All year round, children look at Henry Church and their eyes light up. They see his wispy white beard and the white tufts sprouting from his balding head. They see his ample gut and the wrinkles under his eyes leading to his bulbous nose.

He winks at them as though sharing a secret.

And during the holiday season, Church, a 67-year-old Watertown resident, dons his own red-and-white Santa Claus suit for events like Bethlehem's 27th annual Christmas Town Festival, where he will light the tree on Friday.

"Kids point to me and whisper to their parents: 'That's the real one. That's him.'"

But this weekend, Church will be one of four Santas posing for pictures with children for two-hour shifts in the old schoolhouse by the green. And they ho-ho-hold the experience as dear as anyone.

"The first time I did it, I thought this was going to be boring," said Herb Schmeer, a 65-year-old retired purchasing manager from Bethlehem. "After I sat down for five minutes, they told me I was a half-hour over. The time went that quickly."

Lenny Assard, a 61-year-old civil engineer who serves on the town's board of finance, said he has played Santa for about 10 years because he loves watching the kids.

"To watch their eyes sparkle, and their smiles and stuff," Assard said.And then there's the red-faced fear."Some of them are just scared," Assard said. "You try to take them. Sometimes you just hand them a candy cane and let them go. You don't want to terrorize them."

Beyond the laughter and tears surrounding Santa, the festival will feature a candlelight procession Friday at 6 p.m. and musical performances by choirs and bands. The First Church of Bethlehem will hold its traditional Advent service, and more than 70 exhibitors will sell hand-crafted items.

In addition, the Bethlehem Post Office will stamp Christmas cards for people interested in sending their season's greetings from a town bearing the same name as the one considered the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth.

Assard, whose mother Bernice organizes the Santas, sees no harm in playing the fictional Santa role.

"I think it's good for kids to have dreams and some fantasy in their life," Assard said. "Not necessarily Santa Claus the guy, but Santa Claus the spirit."

And anyway, Assard, who wears a fake wig and beard when playing Santa, knows who really owns his part.

"Henry is the real deal," he said. "My grandkid, when he was 2 years old, saw him at church and called him Ho-Ho."

Church and his wife live on a farm with cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, cats and dogs.But no reindeer, except for some ordinary-nosed hunting trophies hanging on a wall in his basement.

He usually trims his beard after Christmas, but he smiles through his whiskers when discussing the fun he'll have until then.

"If I can have one child sit on my lap and hug me, that's worth everything I'm doing it for," he said.