The fur-trimmed red velvet suit isn’t his usual attire, but Mac Younts can lay claim to the full white beard.

It is his own, as one youngster recently learned.

“A little boy was having his picture taken with me and he reached up and pulled on my beard,” Younts said with a twinkle in his eye. “I guess last year he visited a different Santa and when he pulled his beard, it came off!”

Younts, a High Point native who now makes his home in Washington, is giving Santa a helping hand at several venues throughout Beaufort County this holiday season. This is the third year he’s donned the red suit.

“I enjoy seeing the children and talking to them,” Younts said. “I let them come to me … you can tell as soon as they come up what you’re up against, whether they are scared of Santa or not. I let the parents coax them into sitting on my lap.”

Younts was first approached by Beth Byrd, director of the Washington Harbor District Alliance, a few years ago and was asked to play Santa for a downtown event.

And a star was born.

This year, he has already appeared at gigs hosted by Raised In A Barn Farm in Chocowinity, including its Follow Me To The Farm festivities Nov. 22. Younts is slated to be the honored guest during hayrides with Santa events Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, and he is also on hand at the farm for other photo ops.

He is joining photographer Casey Cox of Reflection Film Productions for a series of Washington photo sessions. The duo will be at Phillips-Wright Furniture on Main Street from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 6, and they’ll return Dec. 20 and Dec. 22 for sessions lasting from noon to 2 p.m. And Dec. 13 will find them taking part in Historic Bath Site’s Christmas open house, where they’ll greet youngsters from noon to 2 p.m. at the Van Der Veer House.

Younts said he is looking forward to spreading a little Christmas cheer.

“It’s fun, I like kids,” he said. “I just be myself. I don’t have to put on.”

There is one unofficial Santa rule he is careful to follow.

“Don’t promise anybody anything,” he said, noting that Santa shouldn’t obligate himself to delivering gifts that may not jive with parents’ wishes and budgets.

And there is one Santa experience he has avoided thus far. Younts hasn’t been “christened” by an overexcited youngster who failed to take a potty break before scampering up onto Santa’s lap.

Younts estimated he has posed for an average of 50 Santa portraits in previous years, but he has already surpassed that number this year just during Raised In A Barn Farm events.

That’s quite a change of routine from his job with Lube USA, an industrial lubricant company from which he retired in 2010. He still works a bit with the company, joining his son in meeting the needs of clients in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

While the holiday season promises to be a busy one for Younts, he is also available for events at schools, churches and private parties. For more information, contact him at lubebrax@aol.com.