The boots, hat, and Santa figurines all point to some connection that St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith has with Santa Claus.
He, however, maintains that he is nothing more than Sheriff Smith.
Santa is just someone he resembles.
"I've reached the age where I'm just happy to see somebody smile because they got what they wanted," Smith said. "Even if they didn't get what they wanted, they got something."
But how do you explain it?
How do you explain the twinkle in the eye, the beard, the way kids gravitate toward him?
"They kinda relate sometimes," Smith explained. "They look at me and I can tell what's going on in their head. Is he? or isn't he?"
Last year David Spencer, who is the PIO for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, came forward with his findings. He had hours of interviews, evidence, and lineups to prove that Smith was in fact, Santa Claus.
Spencer said no one took him seriously. They all thought he lost his mind.
Spencer said he knows what he knows and he is at peace with that.
"At the beginning, I felt like I needed to convince adults that he really was Santa," Spencer said. "What I've come to learn, through the investigation, is that even those who think, 'He's Sheriff Smith. He's not Santa Claus.' They're actually helping out. They're providing Santa with a cover so he can operate for another year."
As for Santa or Sheriff Smith.
"I tell the kids that I like---I mean he tells the kids that he likes peanut butter fudge," Smith said.
"That's interesting. I hear you like peanut butter fudge, too."
" I do. Would you like some?"
Whether you are dealing with loneliness, the loss of a loved one, or just trying to handle the stress of it all Sheriff Smith has this to say as we head into Christmas and the New Year....
"They need to believe," Smith said. "Believe is the first thing you have to do. You have to believe in something or your fall for anything. Just be assured that things will get better."
