Myrtle Beach Fire Department Santa spreading cheer for 25 years

Decked in red and white from head to toe – Steven Semones jingled as he stepped into the Myrtle Beach Fire Department’s station no. 6 late Sunday morning.

“Santa’s here!” the crew exclaimed as the firefighters started to determine who would be the elf to lead the sleigh. A new red fire engine was parked outside of the bay washed and ready for Santa’s annual tour and neighborhood stops in Myrtle Beach where the jolly old elf would hand out candy canes, pose for pictures and hear those ever important Christmas wishes.

Six Santas in the Myrtle Beach Fire Department Santa Detail ventured out from six fire stations Sunday to spread cheer throughout the neighborhoods. Semones has served on the detail the longest.

“This is my favorite time of the year,” Semones said with a grin. Each year about this time, Semones proudly transitions into the role of the Myrtle Beach Fire Department Santa Claus – a role he’s held or helped out with for a quarter of a century now. And donning the suit with the jingle of bells for each step he takes, the firefighter becomes the embodiment of the Christmas spirit.

“It’s about the spirit of giving and what Christ gave to us so we pay it forward ... It’s like a ministry for us,” said Terrie Semones, who joined Santa for his rounds this year as Mrs. Claus. “We totally love doing this.”

The Myrtle Beach Fire Department Santa Claus has become one of the most widely photographed St. Nicks in Myrtle Beach as he makes his way to neighborhoods, foster homes, hospitals, parties, shut-ins and nursing homes spreading good cheer.

“A lot of kids they don’t have the opportunity to get to the mall,” he said, so he goes to them.

“I enjoy it. The kids like it. The parents, if they want to take 90 pictures, I let them. I try to do whatever I can to make them happy,” he said.

That’s where Santa finds his joy.

“What’s kind of cool, too, is you have a lot of kids that will actually run outside with their firefighter’s costume, helmet and everything else and they want to take a picture with Santa Claus,” Steven Semones said. “When I was little I wanted to be a fireman and when I grew up I wanted to be Santa Claus.”

He became both and now the firefighter said he is already thinking of making the role of St. Nick a full-time gig after retirement. This is the first year he’s grown his beard for a more authentic look.

Much like the big man at the North Pole, Steven Semones is very busy over the Christmas season, shopping with children and visiting those in hospice. And for him, it’s a labor of love that has left indelible imprints in his heart.

“I had this little handicapped girl and every year she would call and we’d go by and visit her. And she’d always have something for me,” he said. One year “she had a mason jar full of broken glass candy.”

He has held on to the jar of candy ever since.

“One year, she gave me a bell. So the next year I came with a bigger bell,” he said, smiling as he recalled her greeted him with an even larger bell. “So she ended up besting me on that one too.”

He hasn’t seen his friend in the last few years, but like so many children whose lives have been touched by the memory of him – he, too, is touched by the memory of them. Some little ones are brought to him by parents who came to him before.

“A lot of them ... leave a memory,” he said.

John Simpson started the Myrtle Beach Fire Department “Santa Detail” in the late 80s. Steven Semones stepped in to keep the detail going after Simpson’s retirement. He’s had at least five suits, saved securely in storage. Mrs. Claus is working on a new one for next year.

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach Fire Department Santa spreading cheer for 25 years."