This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
community ■


The SUPER SANTA


Joel Mashburn brings Santa Claus to life.


F


or kids who long to believe in Father Christmas, Joel Mashburn’s beard is the clincher. Not big enough to be a health hazard or scraggly enough for Duck Dynasty, Mashburn’s beard is a tidy bundle, long enough to warm the neckline, silver in color, and 100 percent real.


Mashburn, a native of Hugo and member of Choctaw Electric Cooperative, says that when kids give his mutton chops a tug their eyes open wide with surprise. “They don’t know what to think,” he said, chuckling.


Mashburn first donned the red suit some 20 years ago when a friend asked him to play Santa at a local daycare center. He loved it, and began appearing as Santa at local head-start classes. Back then his beard was dark brown and required a general frosting of white hair paint. “The paint would flake when children touched it so I told the kids it was snow. That really impressed them,” he said.


Before long Mashburn decided to take his show on the road, so to speak, strolling Hugo’s Main Street delivering candy to local businesses. From bank board rooms to retail stores, Mashburn


found a warm welcome. Over the years, Santa Mashburn has brought smiles to nursing homes, schools, preschools, special education classes and homes for the mentally handicapped. Not once but twice, he opted for theatrical entrance on a circus elephant.


Mashburn guesses he’s devoted around 10 days a year to being Santa. For the remainder of that time, he’s the friendly pharmacist at Hugo’s City Drug, and an active member of his community. For 20 years he served on the board of the Kiamichi Vocational Technical School. He also served for several years on the Choctaw Industrial Authority board of directors, and the Oklahoma Baptist Retirement Centers board. For his contributions to his community, the Hugo Chamber of Commerce named him Citizen of the Year in 2012.


Over the years, Mashburn has learned that there are certain attributes that make a great Santa. Number one, Santa must have an affinity for people, especially children. A compassionate and generous nature is important—stingy Santa’s rarely get asked back. Certain physical


For 20 years Joel Mashburn has donned his velvet suit, bringing candy and smiles to scores of children in southeast Oklahoma.


characteristics make a difference, too. For instance, the best Santa’s boast an honest-to-goodness real beard and a round jelly belly. A hearty “ho-ho-ho” now and then never hurt, either.


At five feet, nine inches tall and weighing over 200 lbs, Mashburn admits his physique has served him well. “My Santa suit never required padding,” he noted.


While recent chemotherapy treatments have pulled over 20 lbs from Mashburn’s burly frame, he stays characteristically positive. “On the upside, the treatments have turned my eyebrows completely white,” he said, but admits he regrets that tiredness that also accompanies his treatments. Slowing down is unnatural for Mashburn, not to mention Santa Claus. With Christmas right around the corner, Santa Mashburn remains hopeful. “The suit still fits,” he says. For Hugo residents who know Joel Mashburn, it probably always will. ■


inside•your•co-op | 7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170