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EDEN — Is Santa Claus real?

That’s the question posed to Kathy Overby almost daily in the weeks leading up to Christmas

Overby, known as “Tank” or “Mama Tank” at the Eden Parks and Recreation Department, tells the children what she knows: “He sure is real.”

But their friends say he isn’t real. “Is it true?” they ask her.

“Naw, Sugar. It ain’t true,” she replies.

Overby knows Santa’s real because she can deliver him to their doorstep. She coordinates Santa’s visits through the “Rent-A-Santa” program, which she started 25 years ago. For $30, he attends holiday parties or visits a home or school. He usually knows the names of the children and often delivers special gifts for them.

Fearing someone might recognize her, Overby won’t go in with Santa, but she does guide his sleigh — er, Crown Victoria. Sometimes, she drives Santa because Rudolph has to rest for the big night.

Santa’s recent appearance at Kids World was initially met with silence, disbelief and some hesitation.

At first, the kids just stared at the tall man with the red suit and white beard who shouted, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

The 4- and 5-year-olds at the small child care center had just moments earlier been engrossed in watching “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Santa’s entry into the room appeared to catch them off guard.

Their teacher, Deborah Evans, tried to stir some excitement.

“Oh my goodness! Look who’s here,” she says.

“I just left Rudolph on the golf course. That’s the biggest stretch of land I could find,” Santa says to the children.

“I don’t like Santa,” one little girl says.

Santa couldn’t believe it.

“You don’t like Santa?” he asks.

“I do,” says the little girl next to her.

“I do too!” someone else shouts.

Within a half-hour, all the children in the room have spent at least a few moments on Santa’s lap, telling him what they want for Christmas.

They want dolls, Tinkerbell houses and four-wheelers. A few children asked for real airplanes, not toy ones. One boy wants a sucker.

By the time Santa leaves, all the children have warmed up to him, including the one who claimed she didn’t like him.

Santa visits Debbie East’s daughters every year. Michelle, 13, and Crystal Dawn, 10, are starting to have doubts, East says.

She had to have “the talk” with them last year. She told her daughters they could believe what they wanted, but have they ever caught her placing presents underneath the tree?

Michelle even asked Santa if he was real when he visited last year.

“Michelle, I held you when you were just a baby, and I’ve always been here,” he told her. “Haven’t I always brought you what you wanted?”

East invites Santa to their home every year because she remembers how excited she was to see him each Christmas.

She also loves seeing her daughters’ flushed, happy faces when he arrives.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! Michelle and Dawn, here I am!,” he says as he enters.

He usually brings small gifts he knows they’ll like. He asks if they’re making good grades in school. And puts in a request for milk, Oreos, chocolate-chip cookies or a chocolate-covered cherry.

East knows it will only get harder to convince her daughters that Santa is, indeed, real. She’ll do her best to ensure they will believe for as long as possible.

“I do know one thing, when they grow up, they’ll be able to say, 'I had Santa Claus come to my house every year.’ They’re gonna know that,” she says.

Contact Tina Firesheets at 373-3498 or tina.firesheets@news-record.com