STANTON : Woman Volunteer Signs On as Santa

No beard, no red suit--and no jolly deep voice either. But that hasn’t stopped Maryann Conway from impersonating Santa Claus each of the last five Christmases for the Recreation and Leisure Services Department.

Children can write to “Santa Claus, North Pole,” care of the department, and Conway will write back, signing Santa’s name on each letter. She has replied to as many as 50 letters a year.

The children’s letters are full of requests for brand-name toys and proclamations of love for Santa. One girl named Kimberly sent Conway a list of 23 items she wants for Christmas, including Baby Treasure Troll, Magic Motion drawing toy, Magic Nursery Bundle Baby, Magic Potty Baby, Polly Pocket Pull Out Playhouse and Fantastic Flowers flower-making toy.

“I haven’t heard of the Magic Nursery,” said Conway. “I just try to say that Santa will do his best, but I don’t want to set them up for disappointment.”

Conway, 41, a volunteer, replies individually to the letters. “Usually, I say be a good student, be nice to your brothers and sisters, help your parents with the chores,” she said. “Hopefully that lasts for the whole year and not just for the two weeks before Christmas.”

Kimberly’s envelope was addressed simply to “Santa Claus, North Pole.” It had no postage on it, but it arrived at the department anyway. Sharon M. Weil, who works for the recreation department, said she asked the post office to forward Santa-related mail to the department when she began the “Santa-Gram” program eight years ago.

Weil said the department would like children to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope so Santa can write back.

Conway has covered the Santa beat in many capacities. She dressed up as Santa one time for the recreation department, but a gang of children at the Boys and Girls Club ripped off her beard and shouted that she wasn’t really Santa Claus, she said. She also answered the phone for the department’s “Santa Hotline,” which will be in service on Dec. 18. “It didn’t work real well because my voice wasn’t low enough,” Conway said.

Now Conway replies to letters from the privacy of her own home, often while watching TV, she said. If she gets too many letters, she will have a friend help respond.

Mary Gonye, director of recreation, said her 5-year-old daughter Chelsea has written to Conway. “A month ago she only wanted a cat and one other thing,” Gonye said. “ ‘Everything else should be given to the poor kids that really need it,’ Chelsea told me.

“Since then, she’s come up with this whole list,” Gonye said, as she looked at a carefully numbered list of 17 presents Chelsea expects. “Kittycat,” is now No. 4 behind an “E.T. stufft animal,” a “Clifford stufft animal” and a simple “stufft animal.” Chelsea also expects “101 Dalmatians,” a tent, a fish, a bird, money and “My Little Pony with pink haer.”

“I think she got all the names through word of mouth” from other children, Gonye said.

“It’s so commercialized nowadays,” said Conway. “I don’t remember ever being totally crushed if I didn’t get everything I wanted.”

Santa fans can write to this Santa at 10660 Western Ave., Stanton 90680.