Santa visits with Michael Rubin, 10, at Weaver’s department store, 901 Mass.

Santa Claus is here in town. Lawrence’s homegrown Santa, Larry Freeman, 66, complete with natural white hair and beard, arrived Dec. 6 as part of the Downtown Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade before moving to his regular spot in Weaver’s department store, 901 Mass.

“I’ve been in every parade since it started in 1993,” says Freeman, who treasures the Santa memories of his Lawrence childhood.

“On Christmas Eve, my grandparents would call to say Santa had been to their house,” he recalls. “We’d race over. There’d be sleigh tracks on the driveway, an empty milk glass and cookie crumbs by the fireplace. It was magical. We’d return home to find the same thing.”

He continued the tradition with his two children and, for the past 23 years, he’s been re-creating magical Christmas memories for Lawrence children.

After graduating from Lawrence High School, Freeman worked as an electrician at Kansas University. He moved to Colorado Springs in 1969 and was invited to be Santa Claus at a party for disadvantaged children.

“I loved it,” he recalls. “Just seeing the delight in the kids’ faces was wonderful. I had so much fun.”

He returned to Lawrence in 1976, and when Downtown Lawrence Inc. advertised for a Santa in 1985, he applied.

“I brought my Colorado photographs to the interview and was hired on the spot,” he says.

“I sat in a little wooden chalet with wheels at the corner of Ninth and Mass Streets (outside US Bank). It had electricity but not heating. We had some lights, but they kept tripping the breakers.”

When Downtown Lawrence sold the portable building in 1993, Joe Flannery, Weaver’s president, invited Freeman into his store. Since then, he’s been there every Saturday and Sunday in December leading up to Christmas.

He confesses he doesn’t make the descent from Weavers’ rooftop the day after Thanksgiving.

“That’s my stunt double from the fire department,” he admits with a laugh. “The fire chief won’t let me climb down. He said he doesn’t want Lawrence to become known as the town that killed Santa.”

People of all ages visit him. The youngest was 3 weeks old; the oldest was an 80-year-old grandmother who’d always wanted to sit on Santa’s knee but didn’t have the nerve.

“Her granddaughter coaxed her to do it, and she loved it,” he laughs.

He says children’s requests haven’t changed much over the years.

“Girls still want baby and Barbie dolls, and boys request Hot Wheels and remote-control cars,” he explains. “Yes, I get the odd request for an iPod, but not very often. Kids know best what they really want.”

He’s visited various places, including Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., and he does special requests on Christmas Eve.

One of his favorite Christmas Eve memories is visiting the home of a 3-year-old girl with leukemia.

“She’d lost her hair, was bloated and weak from chemotherapy, but she was beaming with joy. She was so incredible,” he says. “Inside I was so sad at the thought it’d probably be her last Christmas. I counted my blessings big time.”

She survived, and he still visits her home every Christmas Eve.

“On my third visit, I gave her a gold chain with a little heart on it and told her: ‘You had my heart the very first time I saw you.’ Her grandparents and parents all started crying — but I think it was from happiness.”

He tries to go wherever he’s asked.

“Christmas is such a magical time,” he says. “I feel so blessed to be part of it.”