SALEM, Va. – If you’ve ever been through the City of Salem at Christmas time, chances are you’ve seen a Santa Claus standing on the street corner.
“You see him out on the corner of Main Street waving in his Santa suit and his elliptical bike. And he just really takes great pride in this organization and what it does,” Salem native Trina Bateman said.
The man in the naughty Santa hat is Larry Wills, and the reason behind the suit is more than meets the eye.
“The last picture I have of my brother, and it was just a joke we did, he had a naughty Santa hat on and a lump of coal,” Wills said.
Larry wanted to make his brother smile when he was hospitalized after a stroke, and managed to raise money for a good cause at the same time.
“I happened to be out with my buddy Lefty and he said, ‘dress as Santa Claus and let’s make people smile,” Wills said.
They ran into the Marines with Toys for Tots, and that’s where the idea for a naughty Santa fundraiser was born.
“I have an idea, let me see if I can make $100 in a week. They called me and after that week we ended up making a little over $1100. And they said keep going,” he said.
Larry’s brother was able to see the pictures that helped raise the money shortly before he passed away.
“He got to see all of the pictures and he got to see all of his friends and buddies and the town of Salem doing the naughty Santa and doing a fundraiser in his name,” he said.
Three years later and he has raised more than $50,000 for Toys for Tots – $26,000 this year alone.
He also dedicates the fundraiser to former Salem coach John Hinkle, who passed away earlier this year.
“I feel my brother’s spirit,” he said.
Larry never thought that a five-dollar picture in a naughty Santa hat would turn into a city-wide staple.
“Yesterday when I was counting it I counted it 12 times because I was crying.”