VILLAS — Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus — driving down the parkway in his red Mazda Miata convertible.
Wait a minute, what happened to his sleigh? And is it really Santa in his red suit waving at cars?
He must be Santa Claus because the license tag on the red Mazda reads “Santa,” and if the state Motor Vehicle Commission says he’s Santa, then he must be Santa. It’s like the movie “Miracle on 34th Street” in the courtroom scene when bags of mail addressed to Kris Kringle are placed before the judge, who declares Kringle to be Santa since the U.S. Postal Service delivered children’s letters to him.
Our local Santa is actually John Sheets, a fifth-generation Lower Township resident. His long white beard is real, as is his jolly Santa laugh. We know Santa Claus has been around for a while and so has Sheets, 87.
The “Santa” license plate convinced a non-believing older child that Santa Claus was real, Sheets said.
After growing a beard some years ago, Sheets found children began calling him “Santa.” His daughter confirmed the resemblance, and he began making appearances as the Jolly Old Elf.
“When I started doing it, I thought maybe I’ll get three or four people that will want me to come visit for Christmas and the first thing you know, I’m already booking for next year and I’m closed out for the rest of this year,” he said.
Sheets has appeared at a number of local restaurants. He said he enjoys riding along Beach Avenue in Cape May in his red convertible wearing his Santa suit.
“When children holler, if it’s safe, I’ll pull over and give them candy canes,” Sheets said.
He has had his car surrounded on Jackson Street by children and has given out as many as 100 candy canes in one day. Like Kris Kringle in “Miracle on 34th Street,” Sheets allows children to pull on his beard.
When visiting schools, Sheets tells the children a story with a moral.
Sheets said he owns four Santa suits including one with short pants and a short-sleeved jacket trimmed in fur for beach photos with a local photographer entitled “Surfing with Santa.”
Sheets retired from a career with a telephone company and served in the military for five decades.
“I served six years of active duty, and the remainder of my time was in the National Guard or the Coast Guard Reserve. I went in in 1954 and retired in 1991,” he said.
Sheets spent 45 months stationed in Germany, where he met his wife, a marriage that has lasted 67 years.
He attended the Consolidated School in Lower Township, had Maud Abrams as his eighth-grade teacher and graduated from Cape May High School.
On this Santa’s wish list was a red Mazda Miata and he found one at an Egg Harbor dealership. It mainly stays in his garage under a dust cover when Sheets is not portraying Santa, he said.
“It’s never seen rain since I’ve owned it,” Sheets said.
Cold weather does not bother this Santa as he rides down the road with the top down on his car, since he has his heavy red suit and the Miata has a very good heater.
Drivers seeing Sheets cruising down the highway wave, blow their horns and take photos, he said.
“It seems to put a smile on peoples’ faces, it makes them happy,” he said.
How does he explain who he is to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren?
“Their parents tell them Santa has a lot of work, and he needs helpers,” Sheets said.
He offers explanations to children when they ask about flying reindeer and elves.
“I explain to them in my story that the reindeer can only fly from the time the sun goes down on Christmas Eve until the sun goes up on Christmas day. Other than that, the reindeer are just like any other reindeer,” Sheets said.
As long as he looks like Santa, he will continue to portray that jolly gentleman, he said.
“I just want to be the best for the kids that I can be,” Sheets said.
He has a Facebook page, “Christmas Memories with Santa.”
– STORY and PHOTOS by JACK FICHTER/Sentinel staff
