Taking calls for Santa is this helper's good Claus

SANTA BARBARA — When the wrong numbers started flooding in last year, John Dickson didn't just hang up.

Instead, he said "Ho ho ho" and solemnly heard requests for laptops and light sabers from children seeking Santa.

Dickson, who runs a website promoting Santa Barbara attractions, can be reached at 1-800-SANTABARBARA (1-800-726-8222). On a phone pad, that number varies a mere one digit from 1-800-SANTACLAUS (1-800-726-8225), which enterprising boys and girls had been dialing -- and misdialing -- like crazy to reach the jolly old fat man of their dreams.

This year, Dickson, a 44-year-old Santa Barbara native, prepared for the onslaught. In fact, he encouraged it, rounding up about 100 volunteers and alerting the media that Kriss Kringle and his emissaries would be taking calls from the world's children.

"Doing this is more important than my job," Dickson said. "Santa Claus is really a big deal -- a gigantic deal -- for these children."

Since he kicked off the effort a week ago, thousands of kids have checked in, eager for an audience with Santa. After a national TV news spot, more than 1,500 messages cascaded into Dickson's voice mail in just an hour.

In a tinsel-bedecked downtown space donated by Montecito Bank and Trust, Dickson and rotating shifts of half a dozen volunteers have been fielding calls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (The line runs until 5 p.m. today.) On a recent afternoon, the action in what is ordinarily the bank's conference room was nonstop.

"Ho ho ho!" Dickson boomed hoarsely into the phone for the umpteenth time. "What's your name? Oh, yes, of course I remember you, Caitlin!"

What Caitlin and so many others wanted were unsurprising things: a doll named Baby Alive and a real pony and anything Hannah Montana and video games -- especially Guitar Hero -- and, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, a Nintendo Wii.

But more than that, the children wanted a word with The Man himself, or at least one of his many stand-ins.

"Santa's not real!" one boy shouted to his family after talking to one of Dickson's female volunteers. "But Mrs. Santa is!"

Some calls have been poignant.

"What one little boy wanted was for his parents to get back together," said Neftali Rubio, a student at Santa Barbara City College. "I told him that would be difficult for Santa to do -- but we'd see."