Santa Tony is classic Claus

He combines merriment with method to keep magic alive

With his natural white beard, ruddy checks and button nose, Tony Chapin plays such a good Santa Claus that he convinced his own grandson.

While playing Santa at grandson Hayden's kindergarten, Chapin held the 6-year-old on his knee and put his extensive Santa training to work. By the time Hayden got home, he was raving to his mother, Chapin's daughter, about meeting Santa.

"They don't know Grandpa is Santa," Chapin, 61, said of his three grandchildren.

Chapin, better known as "Santa Tony," is one of the more successful Santas-for-hire working in the Triangle. A graduate of two Santa schools, he's what you might call a method Santa.

In addition to looking the part, Chapin immerses himself in character to the point where he turns down work on Christmas Eve because Santa should be out delivering toys that day.

Given Santa Tony's dedication to his craft, it may surprise some to learn what his other job is.

He's a bartender at Bralie's Sports Bar in Durham.

Chapin admits some reticence about sharing that information, but he notes that some of the things that make a good Santa also make a good bartender.

"If you're sociable and you like to talk, bartending is one of those type jobs," he said.

This month, Chapin will be hired to play Santa at more than 30 events in private homes, country clubs, restaurants and apartment complexes. Earlier this week, he played Santa at Gov. Mike Easley's holiday party for the third year.

Chapin turned to Santa Clausing six years ago, after a 17-year career working for Northern Telecom.

As Santa Tony puts it on his Web site, Chapin earned his "red suspenders" by twice attending the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Michigan, along with another school. The Howard school's three-day training courses teach everything from storytelling to sign language to all the different ways to say "Ho, ho, ho."

At "a lot of schools, it's like 'Santa's got to make a lot of money,' " Chapin said. "This is, 'Santa's got to be the best he can be.' "

Of course, most Santas, including Santa Tony, do have to make some money.

He charges all his clients $125 for the first hour and $100 for each additional hour he performs. To keep up his good cheer, Santa Tony tries to schedule several shorter events during the day instead of working long hours at the mall.

"You can get burned out," he said. "I can see where mall Santas would."

On Tuesday night, Santa Tony was greeting children just past the dessert bar at the Golden Corral on N.C. 55 in Durham. (Santa Tony is a friend of the restaurant's manager, whom he met in a darts league in his pre-Santa days.)

"Have you been that good?" Santa Tony asked a boy who wanted an Xbox video game system. The remark drew a hearty laugh from the boy's father.

Chapin tries to be as prepared as possible. He reviews the Wal-Mart toy catalog each year to familiarize himself with popular toys. He has detailed explanations for the location of Santa's reindeers, his sleigh and Mrs. Claus.

A few years ago, a boy caught Santa Tony off guard when he asked what he was going to do about global warming. The boy suggested, for safety reasons, that Santa relocate from the North Pole to the Siberian peninsula. Santa Tony replied that he was considering Greenland.

If there's one thing that seals the deal with skeptical children, it's Santa Tony's real beard.

After meeting Santa Tony at the Golden Corral, Shamaya Ore, 9, was convinced.

"I think he's real," said Shamaya, who had dismissed an earlier Santa because of his fake beard.

Chapin has had a beard for the past 28 years, and when it turned white prematurely, he figured it was an omen.

This year, Chapin kept his beard long all year in the hope of being hired for some "Christmas in July" parties. Now everybody who meets Chapin tells him he looks like Santa Claus, a reality that he is completely fine with.

"Well, everybody loves Santa," he said.