Santa AKA Jeff Liotard came to be thanks to the Russians.
Liotard was working with Russian eye doctors in a remote area of Guatemala seven years ago for a week to help those in need of eye glasses but couldn’t afford them.
It was an excursion that Liotard — who, along with his wife Tevani, owns Mt. Mike’s Pizza in Manteca — got into through an international Manteca Rotary project led by his fellow service club member and optometrist Fred Stellhorn.
“I couldn’t shower or shave for a week.” Liotard said. “I got pretty scruffy looking.”
When he returned to Manteca, he was still sporting his somewhat white beard when he walked into the Chamber of Commerce office.
“They told me, ‘Jeff, you’d make a good Santa’.”
Liotard said he was insulted at first but didn’t show it.
He said it was the fact he’d never thought of himself as Santa.
But the more he thought about it, the more he warmed up to the idea.
Today he’s “the Santa” for hundreds, if not thousands, of kids and those that are young at heart he encounters in Manteca.
The fact he takes being Santa as a serious commitment to spreading joy and the fact he is — in his own modest words, a story teller — has made stopping by the downtown Santa Hut a Christmas tradition for growing number of families.
There’s no rush.
Instead, Liotard savors coming up with new stories to spin to enchant and capture the imagination of young and old alike.
“Santa” is at the corner Yosemite Avenue and Main Street in the Santa Hut daily through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. as well as Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Manteca Rotary — the sponsors of the Santa Hut — offer photo packages that they use the proceeds from to support everything from the annual community Thanksgiving dinner to helping youth organizations such as the Boys & Girls.
One, though, can simply drop in to share their Christmas wishes and to enjoy Santa’s story telling.
And tell stories he does.
As an example, he told a father that he remembers how he tried to trip him up one Christmas Eve to catch him in the act of delivering presents by setting a trip wire.
The father’s young boy’s eyes got as big as saucers.
Minutes later after they had left the hut and were heading down the ramp, Liotard could hear the young boy loudly and excitedly saying over and over again to his dad — “Santa ratted you out!”
And to make it clear, this Santa knows naughty from nice.
Mischief as a youth got him assigned to the guidance of former Manteca Police officer Dave Thompson who a few years back was surprised to see Liotard as Santa.
Thompson, though, wasn’t surprised to see Liotard spreading joy and good will,.
After all, this is the same guy who has organized the Thanksgiving community dinner for years and made sure it served more and more people every time.
He’s also the same guy who — along with his wife – organized outreaches such as those to the Paradise Fire five years ago to collect deliver much needed water and other supplies after 15,000 plus homes were destroyed in Butte County.
Given the real beard and his personality, Liotard gets stopped by kids when he travels during the off-season as far as holidays go.
It helps, of course, that he often wears a Santa cap.
As a result, he figures he ends up taking a thousand or so pictures with people during the non-holiday months when he’s passing through airports and such.
Liotard has never been to Santa school, even though there is such a thing.
What he has done, though, is watch and study every movie ever made with a Santa.
Topping his list is “The Christmas Chronicles”.
One day being Santa was the farthest thing from Liotard’s mind as a young kid.
“I was terrified of Santa,” Liotard recalled.
Now he has three grandkids Reagan Hoppe, 2½ years; Deliah Blackburn, 6, and Temari Blackburn, 4½.
All three call Liotard “Papa Santa.”
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
