Dickson Dinner Bell dishes up Santa Claus

Release Date: 11/8/2001. Expired: 12/6/2001

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and children of all ages can have their pictures taken with him at The Renaissance Center Dec. 6.

Just ask Virginia Easley if the North Pole’s most famous resident really exists and she’d probably give you a resounding “yes!” And, after all, she should know. She’s married to him.

Ralph Easley, who most children mistake for Santa Claus because he’s the spitting image of the jolly old man, is the host of The Dickson County Dinner Bell, seen on local cable access Channel 19 and featuring favorite recipes from the kitchens of folks from all around the region.

Easley is not only widely recognized for his television appearances, but also for his role as Santa Claus during the holiday season. Just put him in his red suit, black boots and cover his head with a Santa hat and he’s ready to go. No need for a white-haired wig or faux beard. He’s the real thing. Just ask any kid who’s tugged on the soft, shiny white whiskers that tumble from his upper lip and his chin.

The 62-year-old television host explained how his life as Santa Claus came to pass, way back in 1983.

“Virginia and I were living in Hermitage and I was working for Channel 4 as an engineer,” Easley said. “Her mom and dad lived in Dickson and they were getting up in years and getting rather feeble so she found it necessary to move back and take care of them. We sold our home and moved back to Dickson.

“That didn’t please me very well and I was disturbed about it but I did it anyway, of course. I have a lot of rebel in me and in April I just stopped shaving in protest. I’d had a moustache off and on for several years. I noticed every time I would shave it off it would grow back a little whiter. So I decided to quit shaving and see what happened. Well, the beard grew out and it didn’t bother her, and it didn’t bother me.”

People made comments about his resemblance to Santa Claus. However, it really hit home one day as he was attending an open house at the Ford Glass Plant in Nashville.

“I had on a red plaid shirt, it was in the fall of the year, and I was standing there eating a hot dog and waiting to get into my car and looking around when I felt a tug on my jeans,” he said. “When I looked down there was this little boy who looked to be about four years old, little blonde-headed kid, and I said, ‘well, hello there son,’ and he looked up at me and said, ‘I want a bicycle.’”

That’s when it struck Easley that he suddenly had a very important role to play, whether he wanted it or not. Fate had grabbed him by the beard and tugged him along his merry way into the hearts and imaginations of children young and old.

“I thought, ‘he thinks I’m Santa Claus and I’ve got to be Santa Claus if little kids think I am.’ I said, ‘OK, son, you be a good little boy and hopefully Santa will bring you a bicycle for Christmas.’ He grinned real big and ran off and I never saw him again.”

It was a revelation, Easley said. If he had to be something, Santa Claus was a good thing to be.

Easley and his wife purchased a Santa suit from the Sears catalogue and the rest is history.

Easley has worn out three Santa suits since then and said he plans to continue his magical mission into the hearts of children for as long as he can.

In fact, children can have their pictures taken with Santa Claus 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, in the rotunda at The Renaissance Center. The cost is $1.

For more information call The Renaissance Center at (615)740-5600.

The Renaissance Center is located at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville.