The REAL Santa!
By Jo Ann Winistorfer

(For the full story about "The Real Santa!" read the latest issue of North Dakota LIVING. You can subscribe to the magazine for only $13.95 per year. Click on the subscription banner above for more information).

Richard "Rich" Veitch relies on St. Nick substitutes to visit with children and help them believe in the magic of Christmas miracles. But his authentic beard and secreats prove: Richard really is the REAL Santa. (Photo by J.C. Balcom)

A beard. A business card. Broken bones.

All played a role in what was to become, back in 1998, a brief but rewarding profession for Richard “Rich” Veitch of Pick City — as well as a hobby he continues to enjoy during the holidays.

It all began when Rich, a millwright, Vietnam vet and a gunsmith, was having breakfast during a gun show in Williston. Noticing Rich’s ample beard, merry blue eyes and cheery expression, a man came up to him and asked, “How would you like to be a Santa Claus?”

The fellow then handed him a business card advertising a Santa Claus school and agency in Glasgow, Mont.

“I thought he was fooling,” Rich laughs.

Playing Santa was definitely not on Rich’s agenda, although he has always loved kids (he and his wife, Renee, have a college-aged son, Ryan). Not on his agenda, that is, until he broke his leg and ankle and was unable to work at his regular job.

So in the fall of that year, temporarily jobless because of his injury, Rich remembered the business card. He signed up for school and traveled to Glasgow, using a cane to hobble around. He was one of more than a dozen prospective Santas enrolled in the three-day course.
Before any were accepted, they had to pass a thorough background check. “You couldn’t smoke, drink or swear, and you couldn’t be a felon,” says Rich.

Regulations for Santas were strict. They received instructions on proper dress and behavior, and how to answer kids’ questions. “For example, we needed to memorize the names of all the reindeer, in case a kid asked about them,” Rich says.

The soon-to-be St. Nicks were advised to study toy catalogs. “They’d have us review the latest trends, so when a kid asked for a certain toy, we knew what it was,” he says.

Another rule: Santas were never to promise kids they would get what they ask for; instead, they were to tell them that they’d try. In addition, Santas are trained to keep their hands visible to parent onlookers, to reassure them about how the child is being touched.

The final day of school, students were fitted for Santa apparel (right down to wire-rim spectacles and East German military boots). None of the Santa students required fake beards; they were all home-grown. “The best beards come from North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana,” Rich notes.

A big part of the agency’s duty was placement. Santa “graduates” were placed in jobs around the country — indeed, the world!

The “real” test for Rich came when the agency landed him a gig playing Santa at the Grand Central Mall in Parkersburg, W.Va. Thankfully, the mall paid the million-dollar bond required to cover any lawsuits that might arise.

Before Rich flew to West Virginia in mid-November of that year, Renee — true to her new role as Mrs. Santa — coached him from a book called “101 Questions Kids Ask Santa.”
His beard at the time was gray with some black streaks. Renee helped him bleach his beard. “After we bleached it, it turned yellow,” Renee remembers. “So I sprayed it with white powder, added texture and volume, and curled it with a curling iron.”

Since his West Virginia experience 12 Christmases ago, Rich — now retired from his millwright job — continues to play Santa, only closer to home. These days, his beard has turned naturally white, and his uniform has grown a bit snugger and sports a tad more wear.

Santa’s venues the past few years have included the ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Towards Education) kids’ Christmas party held annually at the Harbor Bar in Coleharbor, and community-wide Christmas parties in Stanton, Riverdale and Pick City. Private homes are also at the top of Rich’s visitation list — anyplace there are kids — where a real Santa belongs!
— — —
Jo Ann Winistorfer, former associate editor of North Dakota LIVING, does freelance writing from her rural home in Pick City. She is a member of Roughrider Electric and West River Telecommunications cooperatives of Hazen. Richard and Renee Veitch are also members of these cooperatives.