How A White Beard Turned One Man Into A Lifelong Santa Helper

Another successful year for Santa Claus as he traveled all around the world delivering presents. However, Santa couldn’t make it happen without his Santa helpers worldwide. We caught up with one of his helpers in Bethany to find out why he became a helper 12 years ago.

“I didn't even know I had a white beard,” said Larry Blair, aka Santa Larry.

Shortly after his wife died in 2009, Blair found out he did indeed have a full beard as white as snow.

“My first ever time to see a Santa was actually myself in the mirror,” he said.

And he wasn’t the only one.

“People would just laugh and say you look like Santa, and I didn't think much about it but a friend of mine came to me one day and just said ‘you know what, do you have going on in your life’ and I said, ‘nothing really, well you know maybe God has a purpose for you.’” Blair said.

So, that’s when Larry Blair became Santa Larry, one of Santa Claus’s many helpers around the world. And with the help from “his” Mrs. Claus, he suits up each year to make a list of wishes to take back to the north pole.

“My experience was watching kids that really had nothing that came just asking for something for other people it just really touched me,” Blair said. “I was so amazed; I didn't want to stop.”

One of their stops is the Bethany Children’s Health Center.

“It's indescribable, their eyes literally light up,” said Blair’s Mrs. Claus. “To be able to bring some joy in from the outside is just, it's truly a gift.”

For the kids who visit Santa Larry, some even have a message for him.

“To wish him a merry Christmas,” said Jsam Yertin, a patient at the health center.

But of course, Yertin didn’t forget his Christmas wish.

“A monster jam,” he exclaimed.

“If you can just make people smile, you've done something and I love every part of it,” Blair said. “And I will do it as long as I’m able to.”

So, until next year, Blair exclaimed, “Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!”