He’s got the twinkling blue eyes, nose like a cherry, the droll little mouth drawn up like a bow and a long flowing — authentic — beard as white as the snow.
Chubby and plump, clad in a red velvet suit custom-made by his missus, this right jolly old elf is right out of central casting.
Tom Fox of Mattituck has been patiently listening to wishes whispered by awestruck kids for more than 30 years now. When he first started out, his wife Helen used to put powder in his long beard to make it white. Now, that’s its natural color.
He took on his first Santa gig to fill in for a guy who got sick. “My son conned me into it,” he recalls. “It was supposed to be a one-time deal.” But Fox, a construction worker by trade, was hooked from the start. He loves kids and has the patience of … well, a saint.
“Come here, give Santa a high five,” he says, trying to coax 3-year-old Jacob Mott, of Cutchogue to join his younger brother Benjamin on Santa’s lap this afternoon in the parlor of the historic Ira Tuthill house at the Mattituck Laurel Historical Society.
No dice. The wary Benjamin inched his way close enough to reach out and snare a candy cane from Santa’s outstretched white-gloved hand — but not close enough to be reeled in. He quickly retreated to a safe place behind his mom Laura, eliciting a hearty “Ho-ho-ho” from Santa. Eventually, Jacob got near enough to Santa long enough for a photo with his brother (albeit one without a smile) and everyone went home happy.
That scene played out more than once in the picturesque and exquisitely decorated parlor where Fox held court sitting in an armchair next to a perfectly trimmed Christmas tree.
Photo: Denise Civiletti
His wife of 48 years watches, smiling, from her perch on the sofa. In between guests, she rises to adjust his cap or get Santa some water.
“The littlest ones are usually scared,” Helen Fox observes. Some of them scream in fright.
“Give them a year and it’s a whole different ballgame,” Santa says.
That’s the thing about a small-town Santa: he gets to watch his children blossom, from terrified infants and toddlers and shy, wary youngsters, into loquacious 8-year-olds. After an absence typically spanning many years, they eventually return — with a new generation of crying infants for him to terrify.
Fox chuckles. “It’s fun to watch them grow up and come back with their own kids,” he says.
This afternoon, the 24-year-old daughter of the historical society’s president came for a visit.
“He’s the only Santa she’s ever visited,” says Lauren Brigham.
Fox holds court at the Mattituck Laurel Historical Society every Christmas. He also does the honors for the Riverhead Recreation Department at its holiday open house event and for the Riverhead BID at its bonfire on the riverfront.
Over the years, he’s arrived by boat, fire engine, horse-and-buggy and even Batmobile.
He’s a very busy man in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And he does it all as a volunteer.
“I just love doing it. I’m still a kid myself,” he explains.
Oftentimes, there are long lines of people, including plenty of fidgety kids, waiting for a chance to see Santa. Helen Fox whispers to her husband to speed it up, she says. “But he always says no.”
Santa has become a part of who Fox is. The long white beard is a permanent adornment. (He’s had the beard for more than 40 years — long before he started in the Santa role.) The license plates on his pickup truck read “Santa 707.” (The number on the car he used to race at Riverhead Raceway.) He will usually wear a red shirt and black suspenders. So even when he’s not in his fur-trimmed, red velvet “uniform,” Fox looks the part.
“I usually keep a Santa hat in my back pocket,” he says. “People always want pictures.” Nowadays, Fox adds, they want selfies. He happily obliges.
Fox and his wife enjoy taking cruises — and Santa on a cruise ship is always a big hit. He spends much of his time aboard the ship posing for pictures. (Yes, he brings his red Santa hat along.) He was especially popular on a cruise to Alaska because, let’s face it, there was something special about Santa (in swim trunks and his trademark red cap) on a cruise ship bound for the North Pole.
So what’s it like to be Santa?
“It’s hard to sum it up,” Fox says. “I enjoy it because of how much the kids enjoy it.”
Except for the little ones “with hands like spiders” that crawl into his beard — and yank it.
“That hurts,” Santa says, but his eyes don’t stop twinkling and his lips don’t stop smiling. “The rest of it more than makes up for it,” he explains.
