Alumni | Community | Events | UAFS MailbagNovember 15, 2024

UAFS Mailbag: Little Lions' Santa

Written By: Ian Silvester

Welcome to a special holiday edition of the UAFS Mailbag. I recently spent a morning with Harold Trisler, also known as UAFS’s very own Santa. For years, he has shared smiles and photos with families. In fact, my family began our own tradition of meeting Santa last year, and we are excited to continue it with our two young children. To say I was excited to meet Santa – Harold – would be an understatement. As a child, I have fond memories of Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought after trying to stay up all night to catch a glimpse of the magic. I hope you feel that same nostalgic spark getting to know Harold and the joy he spreads as Santa.

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You might be surprised to know the holly-jolly big guy in red’s spring, summer, fall, and even winter home can be found in the rolling hills of south Fort Smith. But sure enough, as I pulled up, visions of dancing sugar plums, the tinkering of elves, and magical bell-jingling reindeer came to my mind.

Now, I knew I wasn’t meeting ole Saint Nick himself, but I sure as candy canes thought I was when University of Arkansas – Fort Smith alum Harold Trisler, ’72 and ’73, greeted me at the door of his home. As many kids do, I loved Santa, and if Trisler stepped outside wearing a red felt hat trimmed in white fur, I probably would have asked to see his list and check it twice.

Trisler graduated from UAFS, then Westark Community College, in 1972, near the end of the Vietnam War, with a degree in nursing. He recalled the decision to study nursing because of the war; if he needed to go, he could help others.

However, “It ended up being a career, and I didn’t have to go to Vietnam because of the timing,” he said.

He turned nursing into nearly 40 years, mainly as a psychiatric nurse, and even ran the psychiatric program for about 25 years at Sparks Regional Medical Center, now Baptist Health-Fort Smith. Here, the tale of Santa’s past, present, and future began.

“Sparks had a 120-year anniversary, and they wanted a kind of historical Santa. I’ve always been interested in history, so I did it for them,” Trisler told me. “A gentleman working at the university saw me and asked me to come and do it for the Alumni Association, which I did the next year, and that was about 12 years ago.”

Many of us know Trisler as the Santa our children take their annual Christmas picture with at the Little Lions Meet Santa event hosted by the UAFS Alumni Association. It’s a tradition that warms his heart.

“I always look forward to it because I remember those kids who have been coming for a long time. I really look forward to seeing them again, and I can tell that they’re seeing an old friend. It’s that way for me, too,” he grinned.

Despite the number of times Trisler has been part of families' memories over the years, he said he tries to make no two years the same.

As a self-proclaimed and authored history buff, he regaled me about the tradition of Santa Claus and his efforts to bring him to life through the costumes he designs and fabricates.

“I probably have 15 different versions of Santa,” he said. “I do a lot of historical Santas … and those costumes aren’t as readily available as the traditional Santa. It’s fun to see how you can incorporate that look into the whole thing but still keep it Santa. It’s still got to be red with white fur, or you take the chance that a five-year-old won’t recognize you as Santa.”

As I sat wide-eyed listening to Trisler speak, he went on to tell me about what the real meaning of Santa is, and it wasn’t to bring presents and eat cookies with a glass of milk – or something along the lines of a bourbon Christmas spirit to keep him warm on his travels.

“Santa is part of storytelling, and storytelling is our way of conveying values to our children. The value that Santa conveys is generosity,” he said. “Santa, to me, is meant to say, ‘It’s important, whether you get anything back or not, to be able to give to others.’ That’s the message behind Santa and why he’s endured all these years. It’s so you can teach your kids that it’s important to share.”

Trisler said he is filled with pride for UAFS every time he returns to his alma mater and expressed his wish to continue to do so for years to come. As for anyone who may have found themselves on the “Naughty List” and stopped believing in Santa, Trisler had a simple message to the question: “Are you the real Santa?”

With a quick rustle of his white beard that took him six months to grow, he answered, “I pat my chest and say, ‘Well, I feel real to me.’ That’s always been my answer.”

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Before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, Trisler fills his time researching local history. He authored “Finding the Lost Dalton,” about the murder of Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Dalton, who served out of Fort Smith.

Little Lions Meet Santa will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, December 7, at the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center. The event is free, but registration is required. Sign up to meet UAFS’s Santa at https://www.givecampus.com/schools/UniversityofArkansasFortSmith/events/little-lions-meet-santa.

Happy holidays,

Ian

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