By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — Randy Smith made a life of law enforcement. It may come as a surprise, but he also made it as a Santa. Since 1968, Smith has donned the red and white costume of the jolly fellow for local Christmas celebrations. Now 54 years and many Christmas wishes later, this will likely be his last year playing Santa Claus.
"It all started way back when my wife was working at Alco," Smith said. "Sunflower Early Education wanted to do a fundraiser, and they needed a Santa Claus to take pictures. That's when it started."
Smith was a reserve officer with the Great Bend Police Department in 1968. While law enforcement proved to be his calling, he also wanted to follow the path of his uncle, Ray Smith, who also dressed as Santa. Once he started playing the role, it just took off.
"My first outfit came from Alco," he said. "I bought it from them for $10. It was corduroy. It was about eight years later that I ended up buying an expensive suit for both me and my wife. It just kept growing and growing."
Smith worked for the Great Bend Police Department for 13 years, then worked as an agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for 26 years. He spent 14 years as an instructor at Barton Community College, and now works part-time for the sheriff's office. The law enforcement community allowed him to be someone else each December.
"I had a Santa's Workshop on a Friday night, and I was working with the KBI at the time," he recalls. "We were working a crime scene in Ness County. They let me leave to come back and do that, then go back and do the crime scene. Everybody worked with us."
Being Santa grew and grew over the years. Smith worked the Santa's Workshop at the Great Bend Rec Center for many years. All the while, he never did it for the money, and often helped raise money for others. "I think maybe we'd take $20 out for gas, but the rest of it all went to somebody that needed it," he said.
One of Smith's favorite Santa memories involved going into a local store. He knew many of the shoppers, but no one knew who was behind the beard. Even his granddaughters and great-granddaughters, who would eventually become elves, were kept in the dark.
"My oldest granddaughter, Kenda, was working at Dillons, and Dillons had me in there," he said. "It was so much fun, me knowing the people in Great Bend, them not knowing who I was, and being able to pick on them. It was so much fun."
Over the years, Smith cannot recall a single incident of a child getting sick or having an accident while on his lap. Once his late wife, Sandy, became Mrs. Claus, she took the crying children and warmed them up to the idea of meeting Santa. The Christmas wishes ranged from the trending new toy to far more noble ideas.
"You would be surprised to know that every year, at least four or five kids would ask that there be peace on earth," said Smith. "Amazingly, there were several individuals with disabilities that wanted everyone to love one another."
But dressing up for Christmas, like all things, has to end sometime. Sandy passed away in June 2020, just after the couple's 55th wedding anniversary. Randy recently donated her Mrs. Claus costume to the Santas Around the World display in downtown Great Bend. Randy was diagnosed with lung cancer last December, and had surgery to remove the cancer in February.
Smith may be hanging up his Santa suit for good after the 2022 season, but it has provided him with a lifetime of memories.
"To me the greatest gift of all is love and a hug," he said. "It's not the presents, it's not all of that. It's families smiling, it's the laughter. We're celebrating Jesus' birthday, but each one of us is a child of God, and we each celebrate our birthdays. It's kind of a family affair is the way I look at Christmas. It's family, it's friends, it's everybody enjoying one another."