Pancho Claus [Richard Reyes] works year-round, looking for sponsorships and running an ongoing toy drive, so he can have enough to hand out each December. His day job involves driving a promotional vehicle for Taxis Fiesta, a local company that sports the colors of the Mexican flag on its fleet of cabs.
Reyes says he tries to look out for the underdogs.
It’s something his mother instilled in him while he was growing up in Houston. Help out, give back.
Now, at 64 and with a slew of health problems, it might seem a good time for Reyes to hang up his sunglasses and put away the suit. But he doesn’t think so.
“Retire from what?” he says emphatically, as he sits in the theater of Talento Bilingue on a recent afternoon, waiting for a television crew to capture his seasonal spirit. “I come in every day. When you love something, you just do it.”
I blog about Pancho Claus every time I see a story about him. The man himself suffered a heart attack six years ago, but it clearly hasn’t slowed him down. We should all be as full of the Christmas spirit as Pancho Claus. Feliz Navidad, y’all.