Year after year, Santa Claus brings joy and Christmas magic to children everywhere.
And at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Egleston, Bill Odom and T. Jackson Bedford have been making sure Santa visits children there on Christmas for more than two decades. They are accompanied by elves and often times at least one more Santa. With as many as 250 children at Egleston on Christmas, each Santa will visit as many as 50 children.
Here are stories about these two special men who fill the very big black patent-leather boots of Santa.
Bill Odom, retired from Georgia Power, lives in Smyrna.
In 1968, Bill Odom filled in for a Santa who couldn’t show up at a company event. It was last minute, a favor for a friend. Weighing 160 pounds, and in his early 20s, Odom had to be creative with a cherry red suit. He stuffed the belly part of the suit with a pillow. He wore a fake beard.
And while he may not have looked the part perfectly, it was enough for Odom to experience the power of Santa.
"The smile on the children's faces," Odom said recently, still in awe by the reaction way back when. "I loved it."
From that moment on, Odom embraced the role of St. Nick. He started growing a beard, and over the years, the follicles faded from reddish blond, which required a bleaching, to white-as-snow whiskers. He has also (how do we say this?) filled out over time.
“I weigh 285 pounds. My doctor says I need to lose some weight, and then I say, ‘Have you ever seen a skinny Santa?”
Odom, now 72, has donned the iconic red Santa suit for special appearances at churches, schools and nursing homes, as well as corporate events. He gets paid for corporate events but otherwise donates his time.
Odom delivers important messages. He tells children how important it is to love their parents (and to listen to them), how important teachers are in their lives, and he explains to children that elves, while working day and night to make toys, sometimes run out of a toy, and Santa brings surprises.
A member of Odom's church asked him to visit a sick child at Egleston 37 years ago. He's been going to Egleston on Christmas ever since.
Odom also gets help from his wife, Amy, who embraces the role of Mrs. Claus. They will spend as many as four hours at Egleston on Christmas. They often stand just outside rooms, and peek in the room to say a few words to a child and family, and make sure the child’s bag of Christmas gifts arrived. For children sleeping, elves snap a photo of Santa stopping by, so the child, when waking up, sees Santa visited.
“In our mind, the purpose is to give that child and family a few minutes, a moment, to let them know we are there for them and hopefully we can give them a little bit of Christmas,” said Odom.
Odom, who has four daughters and six grandchildren, said he and his wife don’t buy each other Christmas gifts. Every Christmas after returning home from Egleston, they hug each other.
“It is a pleasure and a blessing to do something like this. When you do something like this, what could you buy to make Christmas any more special?”
READ: The Santa Whisperer
Judge T. Jackson Bedford, recently retired as a Fulton County Superior Court judge, and now serving as a senior judge for Georgia, lives in Buckhead.
Back in the early 1990s, T. Jackson Bedford dressed up in a red Santa suit for the first time during a Christmas party for a lark. He donned a simple Santa costume with cotton beard. During the party, a friend's wife said there was a little boy next door who had never seen Santa.
It was a moment that changed everything.
“The moment he saw me, he threw his arms around my legs,” he said. “It was a magical moment, and that’s when I realized the power of a Santa suit.”
In 1993, Bedford founded the Santa Project with the Atlanta Bar Association. He has recruited seven Santas, including four who are African-American, and 30 elves. They include judges, attorneys and other staff members who provide visits with Santa for children who might not otherwise get to see the jolly fella. They visit children facing difficult circumstances, and their appearances include stops at a local shelter for women and children, Jerusalem House, which provides housing for homeless and low-income people and families affected by HIV/AIDS, and visits with children in foster care.
“I really enjoy it,” said Bedford, now 73. “I feel guilty because sometimes we say we shouldn’t enjoy something so much. It’s a weird thing: You are trying to give, and make other people happy, but yet, you get so much out of it.”
Meanwhile, Bedford started going to Egleston on Christmas Day 21 years ago.
“My hope is to bring a little bit of joy when there’s so much heaviness around them,” said Bedford. “They try to get children out of Egleston for Christmas, so those children who are there are often very sick. They are away from their homes, their Christmas trees, and I can say, ‘Hey, Santa’s here,’ and give them a little bit or normalcy. It’s a gift. I do this as a gift.”
Bedford has a deeply personal connection to Egleston. His grandson, Brandon, who was diagnosed with cancer at age 9, was treated at the hospital for years. Sadly, Brandon died in 1998.
Bedford has two daughters and a grandson who is 17.
“I do the pediatric oncology floor, and in large part in memory of Brandon,” he said. “I think about him every time I am on the oncology floor.”
After the first time bringing laughter and smiles to several children and their families at Egleston, he and his wife, Patty, returned home on Christmas and paused in front of their fireplace. They embraced.
“We said, ‘This is what Christmas is all about,’” he said.
After leaving Egleston on Christmas, Bedford will head to the USO at the airport to greet troops and family members.
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