Fremont Santa Claus spreads cheer after rough year

Click here for updates on this story

    FREMONT, NE (WOWT) — Fremont has its very own Santa Claus this season.

One man has been suiting up as Saint Nicholas to give gifts to complete strangers. There’s a chance you may have already seen him this year.

“I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t know it was gonna get this expensive,” Mike Hayden said.

He says he wasn’t sure what he was getting into. What originally started as a random act of kindness has turned into now four weekends of dressing up as Santa at a busy street in Fremont.

“I did a side job, I made a couple hundred dollars … and I haven’t seen any Santa Clauses this year,” Hayden said.

The burly man with a long white beard and clad with camouflage has spent hundreds of his own dollars on toys at metro-area stores. On Sunday, he cleared out shelves at Menard’s stores in Fremont and Omaha, which he started giving at one of the busiest streets in Fremont.

“I like to see the smile on their faces when people drive by and they see Santa,” Hayden said, who’s now transformed into jolly old Saint Nick.

“Once I’m out here for about 10 minutes, people will call other people and tell them I’m out here,” Hayden said.

The Fremont Santa Claus normally spends time at community events like Shop with a Cop, but this year—he’s spending it near 18th and Bell streets giving away gifts himself.

Sure, Mike doesn’t have to spend his time and hard-earned cash on gifts for total strangers.

But it’s what his family wanted, because they knew what it could do for other families.

“The last time I had on my Santa suit was when my mom passed away from cancer,” Hayden said. “And I wore the suit to the hospital. She said don’t give this up, and I haven’t.”

Mike is a widower, and in the past seven months—he’s lost his mother, aunt, stepson, and cousin to various illnesses.

It’s not easy so suit up and spread holiday cheer after a year of so much hurt. But to Mike, it’s worth it, knowing he’s making someone else’s year a little bit better.

“I think Santa goes over real well in Fremont.”

Mike says he will continue to hand out gifts for the rest of December. You will most likely find him at 18th and Bell streets on weekends.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.