Among Bob Johnson’s happiest memories as a downtown Santa is the little boy who climbed onto his lap, clutching a toilet paper tube.

“When I asked him if had any gifts he wanted from Santa, he unrolled this thing from the tube, and it had a catalogue, names, part numbers and prices,” Johnson said with a chuckle. “He was organized!”

Then there was the little girl who moved Johnson in a different way.

“I asked this little girl what she wanted for Christmas and she said, ‘A new daddy for my mama.’ I told her it might be a bit outside of Santa’s league because it takes more than Santa Claus to have a new papa.”

Johnson, 71, is among the band of jolly old elves in residence at the Optimist Club’s downtown Santa House, offering a spacious lap and bending a hairy ear kid-ward. Auburn’s fire chief from 1983 to 2004, Johnson has donned the fire red suit for the Optimist Club for two years.

His wife, Jesse, helps him into the suit and has been known to play Mrs. Claus.

“They called me a few years ago and asked if I could help out because I’d started to grow a little Santa beard, and I was going to do it for the Lions after my retirement,” Johnson recalled. “So I said, ‘Sure, I’ll come down and help you.’ I helped a little bit last year, but this year I’ve done quite a bit more.”

On Dec. 5, he played Santa in the Santa Parade.

Johnson’s willingness to be the North Pole’s No. 1 man should come as no surprise to anyone who knows him. From way back, this father of three, grandfather of 13, has had a soft spot for the little ones.

“You see the twinkle in their eye, and most of them are Santa believers,” Johnson said. “The spirit of Christmas is really evident. The proud parents stand there, and some of the children look a little bewildered. On the one hand we tell kids, ‘Don’t run up to strangers.’ We’ll, here’s a stranger in a red suit, and the kid’s not real sure what to do.”

He takes occasional tugs at his whiskers in stride.

“It’s been really good. I saw a couple pictures that showed little ones hanging off my beard, but they weren’t trying to be obnoxious, they were just curious,” Johnson said. “So they tugged on it a little bit. Some of them kind of stroked it like it was fur.

“When I started, I had a fake beard with elastic that held it around my ears, and the kids would pull it and let go. I thought, if I am going to keep this up, I’m going to grow a real beard. And I found out it hurts worse! Probably better to have a fake beard.”

Johnson, grown savvy in the ways of Santa, has honed his own method for coaxing reluctant kids to open up.

“Well, it depends on how you approach it,” Johnson said. “They come in geared to say, ‘This is what I want.’ And I usually try to start the conversation by asking them what was the nicest thing they did this past year, and most of them are stumped.

“And then you start asking, ‘Do you have brothers or sisters and dogs and cats?’ They begin to get the message. And I ask them what was the nicest thing someone has done for them this past year. Then I ask them if they have a list of gifts they want Santa Claus to see.

“… I think that you treat everybody with respect, that’s number one,” Johnson said. “No question they ask is a stupid question. And some of them ask questions like where’s the reindeer? I’ll say, well, they’re at Game Farm Park because they’re kind of skitterish when they get around a lot of children, and it’s not real safe under those conditions. But if you set out some carrots for them along with chocolate chip cookies for me, we’ll see.”

Around Johnson’s neck hangs the answer to the question that has stumped generations of kids: How does Santa get down the chimney?

“That’s why I’m wearing this golden key here with the Santa face on it,” Johnson said, producing the key. “I tell them that I come to so many houses that don’t have a chimney, I need a key to get in the door. That seems to work.”

He believes there is still a place for Santa.

“None of them have said, ‘I don’t believe in you.’ I find the older kids who come in with the young ones, they know. They’re being kind of sly about the whole thing, but I can engage them in part of the conversation and it works out really good,” Johnson said. “Christmas is in your heart. I think the best part is giving back to the community.

“During my time at the fire department, I met a lot of people. I hate to say that Auburn is better than any town I have been in, but honestly it’s true. “