Santa Hank

I felt the call of the red suit in 2007 while volunteering at work to be Santa for foster and special needs children, one of the first children I saw asked if I was the real Santa? I asked him what he thought, he replied I don't know cause your beard is fake, but your belly is real. I was hooked at that very moment; I told him that I was one of Santas trained helpers here just for him because Santa knew he would be there that day and he is very special to Santa. He accepted this transaction and proceeded to entrust me with his precious list, I saw this and many more children grow into adults over the years as Santa for my workplace. This also grew into being Santa for the daycare that my youngest grandchild attended as well as several local daycares that have me as their Santa. I am a member of the Worldwide Santa Claus network, or professional Santa school. I have the honor of having a certificate of completion; however, I do not feel this is something you can graduate from or complete as this will be a lifetime of learning and my own journey into self-improvement as Santa.
I am a real bearded Santa that is a military veteran, I have recently retired from the Oklahoma department of mental health and substance abuse services after 28 years of service. I was on the board of directors for the Oklahoma public employees association for 17 years, championing and advocating for the best service, safety and programs for Oklahoma residents, the staff, children and clients. I had the honor as serving as the vice president for 3 years during this tenure.
I married my bride and sometimes Mrs. Claus at the chapel in Fort Sill, Oklahoma on New Year’s Eve 1983, we have 2 amazing daughters and 3 grandchildren. We have been part of Lawton Fort Sill community since the early 80’s, volunteering to be our church’s angel tree coordinators for the children of inmates, we did this for many years along with other charities that we are still involved with.