Columnist Susan Snyder: North Vegas is actually North Pole

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 8:16 a.m.

Santa Claus lives in North Las Vegas.

It's pretty easy to tell where. His house on the northeast corner of Belmont Street and Judson Avenue is awash in thousands of lights.

The whole yard is covered in cotton "snow," and twinkling "icicles" dangle from the eaves. Stuffed bears frolic and sled among its drifts. Disney characters decorate a tree in one corner. A giant Santa and a huge bear dressed as Santa wave to passersby.

There's a gingerbread house big enough to stand in, if you're small enough to believe in Santa Claus. There's even a Santa landing on the roof of the house in a helicopter.

But honestly, you have to see Tom "Santa" DeVoe's Christmas display to believe it. And yes, you have to drive to North Las Vegas at night.

"This is unusual for this end of town," DeVoe said, rubbing his magnificent white whiskers.

"I used to wear the fake beard, but it got to be such a hassle to keep it on with the kids pulling it," he said. "About four years ago I tried growing a beard to see what happens."

What happens is he looks just like Santa Claus. It's almost impossible to talk to him like a grown-up. (I want a new bike.)

DeVoe and his wife, Linda, started dressing their house 18 years ago, four years after moving here from Florida.

The semiretired lawn service owner made most of the yard's figures himself, using stuffed animals and windshield wiper or grill rotisserie motors.

If they look reminiscent of the figures at Opportunity Village's Christmas village, it probably is because DeVoe made many of its first animated displays.

Other figures have been donated by Ralph Jones, owner of a commercial display business on East Charleston Boulevard.

DeVoe also built the life-size nativity tucked among lighted pine boughs in the yard of the house next door, which he also owns. Most evenings a hut there offers free hot chocolate and cookies.

DeVoe dons his Santa suit and fields children's Christmas wishes from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. And from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, he gives rides on a trackless train ride fashioned from a riding lawn mower and a string of brightly painted cars made of barrels.

A donation box is affixed to the fence, and he accepts donations ($1 for kids and $2 for adults) for the train rides. But none are required. The DeVoes added the donation boxes because people kept tossing money into the display.

"It's like people don't understand 'free,' " Linda DeVoe said.

A few donations wouldn't hurt, however. The display has its own meter, and the electric bill is about $500 from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

Some neighbors balk at the hordes of visitors parking along the street. DeVoe said he tries to make sure they don't block driveways, and he has made an effort to properly store his decorations the rest of the year.

But the DeVoes' home is a bright spot in a neighborhood where windows have bars and kids don't have winter coats.

"There's kids who come here, and they don't have shoes," DeVoe said. "These people can't afford to go to the malls or Opportunity Village."

But they can get a candy cane, a smile and a little hope at Santa's house.