Signature: David and Castella Barron

David Leighton Barron

Age: 64

Hometown: Oak Grove, La.

Title: Santa Claus

Castella McKenzie Barron

Age: 59

Hometown: Poplarville, Miss.

Title: Mrs. Claus

Santa Claus is such a recognizable figure among our culture that 64-year-old David Barron, who has a snowy-white beard, rosy cheeks, and a cheerful disposition, can’t go anywhere without children thinking he is “the big man” himself. After all, they’re right: he is.

Barron and his wife, Castella, began masquerading as Santa and Mrs. Claus six years ago as a way to make some extra Christmas money. Times were hard, and they had to borrow $450 from a friend to have David’s first suit made.

Today, three red suits hang in his closet, and the

couple is booked solid for the holidays at southeast

Louisiana preschools, daycares, nursing homes, special events and even company Christmas parties. If you’ve

seen a Christmas photo taken in the past few years, chances are, the Barrons—er, the Clauses—are in it.

The holidays are important to this couple, who have been married for more than 42 years. They both celebrate December birthdays—Castella’s on Dec. 12 and David’s on Dec. 17. In 1980, Castella’s father died on Christmas Eve, and in 1989, her mother passed away on Christmas Day. “Christmas is a time for us to celebrate with family and remember our loved ones,” Castella said. “We feel so blessed for everything we have. This is really a ministry to us, bringing joy to young and old.”

Part of that joy comes from knowing the whiskers are real, which is important to David, a natural-bearded Santa since December 2001. Adults are just as curious as children about his beard, and their wishes are sometimes even more outlandish than kids’.

The most outrageous Christmas wish he’s ever heard?

“I once had a woman tell me she wanted a divorce with a big settlement,” David said. “I simply told her Santa isn’t in the divorce business.”

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