Every year during the holiday, a few people in Juneau don the red suit. There’s been a decades-long tradition of Santas at Nugget Mall and other places in the community.
Rick Helms got his start playing Santa about 30 years ago when a friend asked if he would dress up for his family.
“I says, ‘Not in this lifetime,'” Helms said. “We were having beers, Monday Night Football. He says, ‘My nieces know me. I need a friend to fill in for me.’ So I says, OK.”
Helms has a short white beard. He just so happens to be wearing a shirt with deer on it. And he has a kind, twinkle in his eye that reminds you of Santa Claus. Imagine recognizing an old high school acquaintance and doing a double take. Helms is like that, except he’s playing a childhood icon.
But he said he was nervous about becoming Santa for the first time.
“Getting around new people I get tongue tied and sweaty palms, like today, right now,” he said.
When he puts on the red suit and fake beard though, he says some of those fears melt away.
“Kind of like Halloween. ‘Cause, you know, you dress up in costumes. … And now it’s old hat. I just get my game face on, and I just love it,” he said.
Helms is in high demand this time of year. There are typically three Santas that rotate at Nugget Mall but one just had back surgery. So lately, Helms has been listening to a lot of children’s wish lists. He says Legos and Star Wars toys have been popular requests. But sometimes kids ask for gadgets he hasn’t heard of.
He has a planned response: “I let Mrs. Claus take care of that.”
Then there are things children ask for that Santa Helms can’t promise.
“Bring mommy, daddy back from Afghanistan or Kuwait. Stuff like that. Santa sometimes just has to have a break after that, you know?” Helms said.
Juneau’s chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha puts on the photo session with Santa at the mall. The earnings go to nonprofits, like St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the Salvation Army.
Sharon Lowe is one of the organizers. And in the past, she’s put on the red suit to help out.
“I wear the whole getup, beard and everything! I try to lower my voice several octaves,” she said.
She also plays the Easter Bunny in the spring. The time she had to dress up as Santa, the other Santa had gotten his calendar mixed up. She said among the crowd of kids, one sticks out: A special needs girl who only wanted to sit in her lap.
“And she just cuddled and cuddled and that year we were giving away books about the Night Before Christmas and she got off my lap, and I handed her a book. And she looked at it and she looked at me and pointed at the Santa on the book and said, ‘That’s you,'” Lowe said. “You know their reaction to you as the Easter Bunny or you as the Santa Claus, it’s just precious. … They believe and they want to believe so badly.”
Both Lowe and Helms said playing Santa is more difficult than strapping on a fake beard and calling it good. It takes patience, empathy and the ability to really listen. That’s what being Santa is all about.
Helms said what began as something he was reluctant to do has turned into an annual event he’ll be doing his whole life.
“Until I’m looking down at, or up at, the dirt. Cause I don’t plan on giving it up,” Helms said.
He even invested in his own Santa suit, which cost about $500. He donates his $15 an hour earnings playing Santa to organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project and The Salvation Army.
He’s committed to the wardrobe and spirit of St. Nick, but he’s in no rush to grow out his white beard just yet.
“Halibut slime and jellyfish doesn’t mix with beards,” he said.
That’s right. Santa Helms works as a commercial fisherman in the off-season.
