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Of Santa, Clowns, Cars And Civic Pride Sharing Memories With Bucky Douglas

A man of many faces and interests, Bucky Douglas remains devoted to the community and the children he has entertained for over fifty years.
photo by Charles Shapiro
A man of many faces and interests, Bucky Douglas remains devoted to the community and the children he has entertained for over fifty years.
For over fifty years Bucky Douglas has been Santa to generations of Vermonters, a privilege he does not take likely and a tradition he plans to keep right on doing.
photo by Photo Provided
For over fifty years Bucky Douglas has been Santa to generations of Vermonters, a privilege he does not take likely and a tradition he plans to keep right on doing.
Sharing his passion for antique cars in parades and events always brings a smile to people faces and an even bigger one for Bucky.
photo by Photo Provided
Sharing his passion for antique cars in parades and events always brings a smile to people faces and an even bigger one for Bucky.
 Playing his accordion has always been a joy for Bucky. He shared his time and talents at the Ferrisburg Town Celebration this summer
photo by Charles Shapiro
Playing his accordion has always been a joy for Bucky. He shared his time and talents at the Ferrisburg Town Celebration this summer
Bucket the Clown is just one way Bucky Douglas reaches out to touch the heart of many ages and generations.
photo by Photo Provided
Bucket the Clown is just one way Bucky Douglas reaches out to touch the heart of many ages and generations.

Tuesday November 18, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

Clifford “Bucky” Douglas has a very expressive face that lights up when he is sharing stories about his passions that include children, cars, clowns, history and civic engagement. It is impossible to discern which role he loves the best but together they encompass a love of children and spreading joy since Bucky Douglas is a born entertainer.
    Bucky Douglas was born in 1942 and the oldest of three brothers in an Italian household and neighborhood.  He can still remember the smells of pasta, bread and sauces wafting through the air of the neighborhood that ran from the River Street Bridge to Meadow Street in Rutland. Bucky grew up in place and time where mothers literally locked the kids out of the house at 8:00 a.m. on the weekends and told them to play outside because it was known that the older ladies of the neighborhood took care of the ‘yunguns.’ Whether it was attending Catholic school at Christ the King, sharing memories of the four nuns from Ireland who taught around Vermont and especially one nun Sister Michael, who was referred to as ‘double jeopardy’ because after she was done with you she called your mother, Bucky spoke of a lively family life where he watched and learned how to work with people of all walks of life.
    It was a move by the family when Bucky was a high school freshman that put him in touch with what would be one passion in his life, antique and vintage cars. “There was a friend of my father, Patsy DeSantis,” shared Bucky Douglas. “He had a barn full of Studebakers and I would sit in those cars and play like I was driving them for hours, much like many other boys did with fire trucks. From then on I always collected cars and to this day still do. My first antique car was a 1938 Ford that came from Virginia and when the engine went to pieces we bought another one and the late Jerry Senesac worked on putting it in.” While his collection has ebbed and flowed over time, Douglas’s favorites to date include a 1956 T- Bird, 1964 Ford . While his current collection includes several classic Cadillacs it is the 1919 Cadillac that brings the biggest smile to his face.
    Bucky’s career path took him from Rutland to Business College at Castleton College with a degree and into the U.S. Navy from 1964-1970 as a Nuclear Field Electronic Technician. There were also two other parts of his life firmly in place. Bucky has played the role of Santa Claus in countless hospitals, Legions, VFW’s, Knights of Columbus Halls and around the country for the past fifty years. When the family lived in Rochester in 1956 a local priest approached Bucky about taking on the role of Santa for the community. “I have to chuckle,” shared Bucky. “I looked at the priest and said, ‘I don’t have the beard or the belly.’ He quickly replied, ‘We can get you a pillow to use.’ And these days I don’t need a pillow.” Over the years Bucky has been in public many times without his Santa garb and young and older children have approached him remarking with awe, asking ‘You are Santa, aren’t you?’ One small child leaned her elbows on the table, looked him over very seriously before returning to her mother and announced that he was indeed Santa. Just recently Bucky received a Facebook message from a local teenager who grew up with ‘Santa’ and wrote, “Mr. Douglas, you will always be Santa to me.” Douglas has a love of Christmas that extends throughout the year and never tires of donning the suit and seeing the joy of the children.
When he is not Santa Bucky entertains all ages using his second passion for music and the accordion. Douglas was a drummer and played for the U.S. Navy Marching Band and the U.S. Navy Orchestra, but it is his self-taught accordion playing that has earned him recognition with the smiles and thanks of generations of Vermonters who have heard him play. Bucky recently played at the Ferrisburgh Day Celebration and had toes tapping and people dancing.
    Bucky is a past president of the Rotary, Lions, current member of  Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Shriners, Masons, and Knights of Columbus and has served in leadership roles and on various projects  large and small benefitting the community, but none more dear to his heart than as a clown for the Shriners. ”Bucket “the Clown is yet another persona Douglas uses to reach out to children and elderly alike. Bucket was created by Douglas in 1998 and is another way of meeting and connecting with people of all ages. Douglas has made a passion for entertainment into a lifelong civic engagement that shows no sign of ending anytime soon.
    Whether it is with his own children, three granddaughters or two grandsons or the next appearance as Santa, Bucket, collector, auctioneer or lending or driving one of his classic cars in a local parade, Douglas is all about “doing his part for the community,” and shares some of the best advice he was ever given with the next generation. “It’s not the altitude but the attitude,” concluded Bucky. “When you think you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hand on. Do it right the first time and you don’t have to do it over.”  Keep on the lookout for Bucky Douglas because he will be there when you turn around as Santa, Bucket or a volunteer at Special Olympics or a local event doing what he does best, entertaining and sharing with the next generation a lesson in civic engagement that is one for the record books.


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