Conway man fills role of jolly old elf

BRANSON MO NEWS:

When kids ask Rick Sublett, aka Santa Rick, if he’s real, he has a standard answer.
“I hold my fingers out and let them squeeze them, and I say, ‘What do you think?’”
The Conway man really is Santa, at least part of the year. By Monday — Christmas Day — he will have participated in 50 events this year.
Sublett became Santa about 10 years ago, he said, using a fake beard for a couple of years before sprouting his own.
He is bona fide — he is a graduate of the International University of Santa Claus in Branson, Missouri.
He learned about the business side of being Santa, as well as Santa Claus history. Newbies had to learn how to ho, ho, ho.
“I had that down before I got there,” Sublett said.
This month alone, he’s attended 30 events.
“It’s the hardest work you’ll ever do sitting down,” Sublett said.
Santa Rick has participated in the Greenbrier Christmas Parade for two years and led the 17th annual Conway Regional Toy Drive this month, his second time to do so.
Sublett said he and Buddy the Elf, aka Bill Helton, ride in a sleigh pulled on a trailer. They wave to people as they make their way with a parade of bikers from Toad Suck Harley Davidson to Conway Regional Medical Center. It’s a sight to see.
“It’s a shock to people on the road,” Sublett said.
He said 615 toys were collected for the hospital this year, which makes Santa Rick and the kids happy.
“I haven’t had any sad requests this year,” he said. “I have had a lot of kids ask that they just want their family to be together. The rest want drones, hoverboards and iPhones. Drones are a big deal now.”
Sublett said …