Some secrets even Santa Claus is not at liberty to divulge. Asked how he gets inside each house to fill the stockings, for example, his usually twinkling eyes offer a regretful frown. "I'd like to tell you, but the RCMP asked me not to reveal my methods because the information might get into the wrong hands," explains the white-whiskered, red suited gent. "It used to be a lot easier 300 years ago when everyone had chimneys. Of course, I was smaller then too," he says, patting his tummy.

This is the real Santa talking. At the Brentwood Village shopping centre in northwest Calgary, where he has attracted  adoring children for four years, he is usually happy to answer questions. Santa relies on Rudolph's shining nose to keep from running into airplanes, he tells the curious. With so many kids in the world these days, Rudolph's cousins are busy at work too. There are now eight full teams of reindeer, confides Saint Nick.

Five year old Scott Strathern has met four other Santas this year but, he says, they were all impostors. So his mother made a special trip the week before Christmas and waited in line at least an hour so her son could meet the real one. "I know he's real 'cause he got a big, white beard," says Scott, after tugging sceptically at Santa's whiskers.

Throughout most of the year Santa hides out as 65-year-old Glen Godt, a gentle, soft-spoken man with a genuine twinkle in his eyes. For 23 years Mr. Godt has lived in a cabin in the bush, 17 miles outside of Fort Smith, NWT, where he has no phone and no running water. At his modest home he make small wooden toys (really) and tends a 3 1/2 acre vegetable garden under the summer's 24-hour sun. He barters and sells the toys and produce, living easily on little more than $1,000 a tear. "I tell the folks up there I 'hoe, hoe, hoe' all summer long, then I come down to Calgary and 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' all through the Christmas season," he laughs.

The Second World War veteran has raised nine kids of his own and worked at an assortment of jobs over the years, from serving as a Safeway Canada Ltd. grocery store manager to running his own pool hall and second hand store. "I never think of a job as work," says Mr. Godt. "I enjoy what I do and when I don't anymore I make a change. I'm a perfectionist. I like to do everything the best I can."

He launched his latest career five years ago at Christmas time. He was away from home and strangers kept telling him that he looked just like Santa. So, while passing through Calgary, he decided to apply for work as Santa at an Eaton's store. Mr. Godt was an immediate hit and the following year was recruited by Brentwood Village. "I like being Santa better every year," he admits.

So do his fans, who come with their wide-eyed children from many miles away just to see him. "People are blown away by him," says Kathy Thompson, marketing manager for the mall. "He goes that extra mile with everyone. On his time off he even scoots around to see people at the different stores." His 'scooting around' is on a motorized wheelchair arranged for by Ms. Thompson. Mr. Godt's legs are bad and walking is difficult. But, Santa chuckles: "I'm just keeping up with modern technology."