Santa is definitely coming to town. But he'll be calling first.

The Red Man has been making calls to Southeast Missourians and believers around the country checking in to see who's behaving.

Jared Tanz, recreation coordinator for city of Cape Girardeau's parks and recreation department, helped the Southeast Missourian get a quick interview with the Jolly One. We learned he really does like chocolate chip cookies the best. Here's what else he said:

Southeast Missourian: Which do you prefer, 'Jolly Old Saint Nick' or 'Santa Claus?'

Santa Claus: It just depends. We can just go with Santa.

SM: How has this season been so far?

SC: It's gets a little tiring, so I put on a little extra weight.

SM: What's the weather like at the North Pole these days? From what we're reading, it sounds like the place is melting.

SC: Global warming hasn't affected us too much. The toys are coming along.

SM: So, is the telephone as high-tech as Santa gets?

SC: We have Santa e-mail and Santa Web sites that talk about me a lot. We have different e-mail addresses. I usually let the elves read my e-mail, otherwise my inbox is too full. I used to use santa1@yahoo.com, but ...

SM: Santa, how do you keep track of all the kids in the world?

SC: I have a pretty sophisticated filing system. The North Pole gidgets and gadgets that my elves make are pretty ingenious. Bill Gates tried to come up and take my system.

SM: So there's a lot of competition with big businesses around the world?

SC: We have some partnerships with Sony and the XBox people and, there's a lot of new places out there. They're being good and I help them advertise, a little bit.

SM: So has anyone asked about naming rights? Are we going to see the Sony North Pole or the AmerenUE sleigh someday?

SC: I've been debating it, throwing it back and forth with Mrs. Claus. It is the 21st century ... maybe in years to come we'll start to do something like this, but Mrs. Claus doesn't think we should.

SM: Santa, what do YOU want for Christmas?

SC: I just want all the children of the world to be happy and have a great Christmas.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127