He drives a red car, dresses year ‘round in red, green and black and has 74 Christmas-themed Hawaiian shirts hanging in his closet. Oh, and his office is decorated, not surprisingly, in Christmastime décor.

Of course, we’re talking about Santa Claus. Or, in this case, Santa John, aka John Schimmel of The Villages, who is one of a handful of Santas in greater Ocala who are Santa’s helpers this time of year. And if you talk the Schimmel or any of his half dozen white-bearded Santa compatriots hereabouts, it’s not just a job, it’s a wonderous and heart-warming experience every time they don the red suit.

“Just having somebody say you look like Santa … just seeing that little glimmer of magic in their eye, warms my heart,” Santa John said. “And in this day and age, we need as much of that as we can get. And I love it!”

We asked area Santas what it’s like to be Santa. The resounding response was there’s nothing like it.

“Oh my gosh, what’s it like to be Santa Claus?” said Scott Jacob, 71, who has seven Santa outfits, and an office decked out in Christmas and Santa goodies. “It’s awesome! Santa Claus isn’t just a person. Santa Claus is about that spirit of joy and giving. … You put on the hat, put on the gloves and ho, ho, ho, I’m off.”

Santa Tony, who when not being Santa Claus is Tony Brown, echoed the sheer joy of being the red nosed one.

“It’s the gift of giving,” Santa Tony said. “You don’t get anything back, and you don’t need anything back. It’s an uplifting spirit for Santa. It’s wonderful to see a child dream in this age. It’s wonderful.”

And it’s not just children who light up when they see Santa out about, whether in his red suit or everyday clothes, either. For Joe Niles, who has been portraying Santa for 24 years and calls himself “Ocala’s Santa,” so resembles the real Santa that he gets approached everywhere he goes and asked if he’s Santa.

“Good golly, this time of year it happens every day, every day,” said the 72-year-old lifelong Ocala resident. “I even have seniors older than me who walk by and go ‘ho, ho, ho.’”

Such experiences are not limited to Santa Joe.

“People give me that look, and I just put my finger to my nose and say ‘Shhhh,” said Santa John, who has been Santa for eight years. “Then they say, ‘Oh my God, it really is Santa.’”

The Ocala-area Santas not only share white beards, red suits and a ho-ho-ho exuberance for spreading joy, they also have regular get-togethers to talk about the business of being Santa.

The half dozen local Santas gather once every month or so just to talk about being Santa and how they can help each other. They also have a group text. They share grooming tips, where to get costume accessories and help each other cover appearances when one Santa is overbooked. For the record, each of the Ocala Santas does dozens of appearances each holiday season.

“The group in Ocala is a really good group,” Santa Joe said. “We keep up with each other. Every six to eight weeks we try to have a lunch. … It’s like a brotherhood.”

And when you have a table full of jolly old men with white beards and red, green and white attire all sitting together, it draws attention. We all, after all, love the magic of Santa Claus, right?

“People come over and want to take pictures,” Santa Scott said. “And we’re all for it.”

Added Santa John: “It’s actually turned into an amazing experience. It’s all about the holiday and the entire experience. We all embody Santa.”