Here comes Santa Claus

Harold Hagler has some intense negotiation skills on his resumé. The Vestavia Hills resident has decades of experience.

That’s because for years, hundreds of children have asked Hagler for dogs and ponies while their parents stand a few feet away shaking their heads and mouthing “no.”

Sometimes being Santa can be a tough gig.

“You have to fake your way through it,” Hagler said with a laugh. “Because you don’t want to tell them no. So I just tell them how much of a responsibility it would be — that they would have to be the one to take care of it, feed it and make sure it has everything it needs. And I ask them if they are ready for that.”

You just never know what a kid’s going to ask for when they get a crack at Santa, said Hagler, who for years has played the jolly, red-costumed guy locally for events such as the Vestavia Hills Christmas parade and breakfast with Santa.

“I always ask them what they want for Christmas and if they’ve been good,” he said. “And of course, no one’s ever been bad. Everyone’s always been good.”

And they almost always think he’s the real Santa — which one might argue is true, based on the evidence. He’s worked all over the map — Alabama, Florida, Texas, Indiana and a host of other places. His initials — H.O.H. — are suspiciously close to “ho ho ho.”

But underneath the white hair and beard is a brunette — well, maybe slightly graying — father and retiree who said playing Santa is just a fun volunteer activity he started doing in grad school.

He’s visited children’s hospitals and charities. He’s been helped out a lot by his grandchildren, who have worn red and white dresses and passed out gifts to the children.

Sometimes the line moves so fast he doesn’t get to talk very long to each child. But other times — especially on the hospital visits — he gets to have longer conversations with them.

He hopes it’s something they’ll remember.

“It’s just fun to let them talk,” he said. “A lot of kids are bright eyed and bushy tailed to see Santa and talk to him.”

But not every child takes well to sitting on Santa’s lap — there are always those who run away screaming, Hagler said with a laugh.

“They’re either excited or they’re crying,” he said. “There’s nothing in between. We always try to do our best to get them to come around and help them feel better.”

And that’s one thing he loves about being Santa — not the crying, but the making kids feel better and hearing what they have to say.

“Hopefully it’s a good memory for them,” he said.