Being Santa's a 365-day-a-year passion

Burlington Mall's guy with the beard reflects on perils, joys

Jim Heichelbech, 78, has played St. Nick for 52 years, starting with dressing up for his own children (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)

Being a mall Santa isn't easy. You hoist hundreds of children on and off your lap, giving each child's wishes the same solicitous attention. You endure long hours of sitting, but must be quick on your feet, so to speak, to field impossible - or just plain naughty - requests. And when your shift is over, you stay jolly, wishing everyone you pass a merry Christmas and listening to good-natured gripes about gifts undelivered.

Jim Heichelbech, 78, has played St. Nick for 52 years, starting with dressing up for his own children. He's since volunteered at hospitals, nursing homes, and orphanages, and in recent years, has been sent to busy shopping centers around the country by his employer, the Colorado-based Noerr Programs Corp. This holiday season is his second at the Burlington Mall, which has one of the most popular Santa programs in the country.

Heichelbech trains and recruits new Santas and is a member of the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, an international fraternity. A former vice president of sales and marketing at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Wisconsin and a native of Louisville, Ky., Heichelbech is affable, quick-witted, and speaks with a Southern lilt that occasionally throws people off. Apart from Christmas season, he and his wife, Marilyn, - who this year is Mrs. Claus at the Burlington Mall - live not on the North Pole but in a retirement community in Arcadia, Fla.

For Heichelbech one senses that being Santa is more than a job. "He's in character 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," Marilyn Heichelbech says. And he's currently writing a book about his experiences.

How did you start playing Santa outside of home?
At an S.S. Kresge store [owned by the corporation that would later launch Kmart], I worked with a man who was a friend of mine. One day I said, "James, are you going to have a good Christmas?" He said, "I wish I had the money to buy my kids toys for Christmas." I said, "How many kids do you have?" and he said, "Five." I was a toy buyer. I said, "Are you willing to put arms on these dolls, wheels on these wagons? Because if you are, we're going to have a wonderful Christmas." I remember going on the bus with him to his house in an underprivileged part of the city. We handed out the toys, and I knew right then that was what I wanted to be doing, bringing happiness to people.

How have kids' requests changed over the years? In the last five years, there have been a lot of requests for electronics [Nintendo] Wiis, robots, a lot of video games. Kids who are 3 or 4 years old are saying they want a computer.

Are traditional toys still popular? Oh, sure. Toys are still popular, though you never hear someone ask for a tricycle or a Hula Hoop anymore. Barbies are very popular for girls; girls ask for dolls until they're 6 or 7, then they ask for iPods or cellphones. I had a girl who was 4 years old ask me for a cellphone.

Has the look of Santa changed over the years? I see you're wearing a purple suit, rather than the traditional red.
Noerr Programs and Simon [Property Group] have created the various colors you see here. This robe, which weighs 35 pounds perhaps, you won't see on many Santas. I'm told it'd cost $1,200 retail. Mrs. Claus's suit is special-made for this mall.

You recruit and train Santas. What characteristics are most important?
There's not only one characteristic that's most important; there are so many. Ethics. Professionalism. Looks, your beard, your personal hygiene, your costume. Experience. Out of 10 [interviewees], I probably reject six. You need to be able to enunciate properly and to be able to think on their feet, because kids think fast. You have to love children. If you ask someone what he thinks of children and he says, "Well, they're all right," he's out. You need to be dependable, because the hours are long. You have to be as cheery at 9 o'clock at night as you were at 9 in the morning. You have to be a good communicator, not only to the children, but to grandma, grandpa, mom, and dad. You can't come in with things between your teeth. You can't drink coffee, because of how your breath would smell. You can't smoke. You can't eat certain foods like onions or pizza or cabbage.

What have some of your funniest requests been?
A couple of years ago, a dad came up to me and said his son was always jumping up and down on the bed. I said, "Put him on Santa's lap, and I'll take care of it." And so the boy - his name was Tommy - sat down on my lap and I said, "Santa Claus looked through your window and saw you jumping up and down on your bed. What's that all about?" And he looked at me like he had never been so scared before. A few days later, his dad came back and said, "You must have scared the pants off him because he hasn't jumped on the bed since."

Are there any stories that are particularly sad? Yes, there's a story that brought a tear to Santa's eye. Three years ago, at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, New York, a girl who was about 10 years old comes up, and she's crying. I said, "Honey, what's the matter?" And she said, "I want you to bring mommy back." I thought maybe her mother had gone away or even was just shopping somewhere in the mall. It turned out she had died three weeks before. I said, "Well, I can't bring mommy back; mommy's in heaven now. But watch what I can do." And I looked up [to the ceiling] and waved and told her to wave. I said, "Mommy can see you. Say, 'Hi, Mommy.' " The girl was stunned at what I was doing. I said, "Daddy's feeling bad, too, so maybe you could do what you're asked the first time, clean up your room, and play nicely with the kids at school." Two days later, her dad comes back in. He said, "She's always been a good girl, but now she's stopped her severe crying." And then he started crying. Fortunately, there aren't too many sad requests. There are many more funny ones.

What's on your Christmas list this year?
It's one of those intangibles. I want every little boy and girl to be happy because they received part of what they asked for. Also, people who are going through a trying time and are trying to figure out what to get, I hope they try to find quality time to spend with each other. I think that's needed more now than ever before in the history of my lifetime.