When Mike Stebbins attended elementary school at the Egan country school, Santa Claus would come to visit each year around Christmastime. 

Little did he know that Santa Claus was his dad. 

L.M. “Jiggs” Stebbins started playing Santa in the 1950s and passed the torch to his son in the early 1980s. Mike Stebbins has been making Santa Claus appearances at the now-consolidated Fair-Mont-Egan elementary school ever since. 

Altogether, the Stebbins men have been playing Santa Claus for more than 70 years. 

It has taken on more meaning for Mike since Jiggs died 15 years ago. 

“When I told my brother I was going to dress up as Santa, he said, ‘What a great way to honor Dad,” Mike said. 

Mike’s mother and Jiggs’ widow, Kathryn, still lives on the family farmstead about 4 miles south of the Old Steel Bridge. Jiggs was born in that house and died in that house. 

“My mom’s still alive on the family farm,” Mike said. “We’ve been in the valley for six generations. We’re older than dirt.

“Mom’s 92 and I asked her where dad got his first Santa suit. She said he probably ordered it from Sears and Roebuck.”

Mike attended the Egan country school, a one-room school with one teacher who was in charge of 25 to 30 students. In those days, the yearly Christmas program was a community event. 

“The Christmas program in a very rural community was a very big deal,” Mike said. “We memorized poems and put on a play, and then you got a bag of peanuts and this hard candy from Santa Claus and we just thought that was great.” 

But as he and his siblings got older, they became a little suspicious. It ended up being a shoelace that gave Jiggs away. 

“I don’t really know when we figured it out,” Mike said. “But one year, dad broke a shoelace. My sister went and got him another shoelace, and sure enough, Santa had one brown shoelace and one black shoelace that year. 

“She was about 8 or 9 years old and smart as a whip. We all get a chuckle out of that.” 

But Mike was a little hesitant to name the man who played Santa. 

“As we got older, we all figured it out somewhere along the way,” he said. “But we were farm boys. We didn’t want to upset the apple cart. We had a good thing going there.” 

Since the early ’80s, Mike has missed only one Santa appearance — when he had the flu. Fortunately for the children, his son was home from college and was able to fill in for him. 

That year, Santa Claus was 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds. 

The Sears and Roebuck suit has long since worn out, so Mike purchased a new one. He said the reactions from the children are always different, but the experience is a rewarding one. 

He spoke of a recent visit, saying, “There must have been 100 of the little rascals. And you get the ones that will run and get a big hug and then some of them don’t even want to get close to you,” Mike said. 

“But when you get those hugs from the little tiny kids, it’s well worth it. It’s always fun and I’m always glad I did it. I feel better when I’m done.” 

Jiggs had a love for children and was involved in 4-H and sat on school boards. 

That affinity for children and community was not lost on Mike, a Kalispell orthodontist who might be best known for his work in youth soccer.

A longtime soccer coach and referee, Mike each year hosts the Flathead Soccer Camp on fields converted from farmland at his place east of Kalispell. The camps, in their 16th year, attract hundreds of young soccer players each summer.

Mike, a Kalispell orthodontist, also is involved in FFA, 4-H, Miracle Field and sponsoring football teams for little ones. 

“You want kids to have an identity,” he said. “Those that don’t have an identity in schools are the ones that may end up in trouble. I’m a big advocate of anything, FFA, 4-H, whatever you can do — but do something.” 

There also are life lessons to be learned through extracurricular activities. 

“The point we make to them, especially during soccer, is that it’s not just soccer,” Mike said. ““It’s life skills. You have to show up on time, you have to be accountable, you have to work hard.” 

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.