In Hartwell, Georgia, there is one upscale men's clothing store. To let me know how upscale it is, Mike told me he'd once spent $45 on a bow tie there.
Ever since Pudge (yes, that's her name) inherited this store, thirty years ago, there's been a sleeping Santa in the window. It's a vintage Santa--probably built fifty years ago--and everyone in Hartwell knows him. When he's turned on, he sleeps. His chest rises and falls. Maybe he snores....
Whenever anything breaks in Hartwell, people call Mike. So he got a call to fix the broken Santa Claus.
"We've had two other people try to fix it," Pudge said. "But nobody can."
That's all it takes to challenge Mike to bring the old Santa back to life. He noticed that it had been patched and taped and poked on, but to no avail.
Pudge said, "He means a lot to us. We had it when our kids were growing up and we'll pay whatever it takes to get him back in working order."
After searching for a few weeks, Mike finally found a rotisserie motor on the internet and another one in his friend's garage. Today, he is applying his skill to the project of making Santa sleep as any Santa worth his salt should do.
He's attaching the extra motor in case Santa breaks again. "Soon nobody's going to know how to spell motor," he said.
Mike can not only spell motor; he's willing to search high and low for just the right one to do the job--especially if it means putting a smile back on the faces of the kids who love Santa Claus.
"That's what Christmas is all about," he said.
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