Ahern: Ron Englund, the Southside Santa

• Reprints

Nicole and Jim Panici pose with their children during a visit with Santa. The children (from left) are Jimmy, Tori and Samantha. | Supplied Photo

Updated: March 13, 2012 8:06AM

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it might seem a little out of place to talk about Santa Claus.

Oh sure, it would be great to talk to Santa at Christmas, but is a Christmas time conversation with Santa a reasonable expectation? No. Besides, even Santa said Valentine’s Day was a perfect time to have a conversation with him, because February is his “off” season; he wears red, and finally, he’s all about the love.

Santa — Ron Englund — is right, of course. The red suit, the love, and the jovial personality aren’t just limited to December. Santa’s spirit is a year-round feeling, or at least that’s how it seems when Englund talks about his job as the Southside Santa.

With a hearty “ho ho ho” punctuating much of his conversation, Englund, 67, is happy to tell the tale of how he took on the role of Santa.

“I was the president of the men’s club at St. Terrence (Catholic Church in Alsip), and I suggested we make pancakes and serve coffee and orange juice, and have somebody play Santa, so people could take pictures,” Englund said.

“Nobody wanted to be Santa, though, and so I did it, and 31 years later, here I am.”

The line between Ron Englund, who lives in Alsip, and Santa, who lives in the North Pole, can easily be blurred, because first and foremost, Englund looks like Santa. Like the Jolly Old Elf, Englund has a white beard that he keeps fairly trim until July of each year.

“I trim it real good but after July, I let it go and by Christmas, it looks like a biker beard,” Englund said.

In addition to his beard, Englund not only wears a Santa suit, but also sports a large, red nose on the front of his car, as well as antlers in his car windows. South side residents in the Beverly and Morgan Park area may recognize him, though, because in his off-season, he is a driver for a motor parts company and visits several businesses in these communities.

“In the winter times, I tell my work that on Saturdays, I’m either at church or I’ll be Santa,” Englund said.

Englund said from November through December, he travels throughout the Southland area, bringing Santa to churches, families or special events. A family in Tinley Park has invited Santa to their home for 17 straight years.

In addition to bringing Santa to the Southland, Englund is also married to Char - Mrs. Claus - his wife of 44 years, and together they have three grown children. He and Char married in August - 1968 and by mid-September, Englund was on his way to Vietnam, where he served as a combat medic. When Englund, a Purple Heart veteran, talks of Vietnam, it is the only time his ho-ho-ho laughter subsides.

“I was 24 when I was drafted. I saw kids 18 and 19 years old and I was a big brother to these guys. I was their doc, and I was their older big brother, too,” Englund said.

“I had a hard time for 12 years after I got back. I had real bad nightmares — I can never forget the stories.”

The chance to be Santa, however, seems to heal his thoughts about Vietnam and, according to Englund, his Santa role has been good for his overall health as well.

“I have diabetes and I have a defibrillator, but these kids, they do more for my heart than any medicine I have,” Englund said.

In addition to his Santa role on the Southside, Englund visits the Chicago Mercantile Exchange every year, to play Santa for a program run by the CME.

“They choose about 110 of the poorest kids in the city and they have them make a wish list. Then the kids come downtown for hamburgers and ice cream. Last time, 96 kids showed up, and I came in and all of a sudden, 96 kids charged me. It was like a stampede,” Englund said, laughing.

“I get so much enjoyment out of these children.”

Greg Carroll, manager of community relations for CME said this party is held for the company’s adopted school, Washington Irving Elementary in Chicago, and members of the Exchange community fulfill the gift wishes of the children.

“He has a real gift for connecting with the children and making their faces light up,” Carroll wrote in an email. “From his jolly nature to his authentic white beard, the children have no doubt that they are getting the real deal.”

Englund described his interactions with children.

“Some of the kids I see, I have them sit in a circle around me. I tell them, ‘Give Mommy and Daddy a hug every day and say to them: Thank you for loving me.’

“I always leave time for questions, and some of the kids want to know why I drove to see them. I tell them that my reindeer told me, ‘If it don’t snow, we don’t go.’”

Englund even has an answer for why he doesn’t take the sleigh even when there is snow on the ground.

“I tell the children that the reindeer have gone on strike, and that they want more hay and oats with honey sprinkled on top. They also want FFM. The children always want to know what FFM is, and when I first heard it, I had to ask Mrs. Claus what it was. She told me it is Frequent Flyer Miles.”

“When the reindeer are on strike, that’s when Blitzen hands me his car keys, and I take his Chevy Blazer with the red nose on the front and the antlers on the windows.”

Mrs. Claus — Char — said on occasion, she will attend events with her husband, but for the most part, he flies solo when he is Santa.

“You know he has accomplished so much and he is so well-loved, and he doesn’t really realize it,” she said.

“He’s my honey, I love him and I’m just going to stick with him,” Char said.

See? This truly is a story for Feb. 14. Happy Valentine’s Day, Santa.

To schedule Englund - Santa - for a visit, call 708-371-3859.