Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus, also known as Judy Shepherd and Jimmy Crain, wave to the crowd for their final time as participants in the Shepherdstown Christmas Parade on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — “Mrs. Claus — Judy Shepherd — is retiring this year, so it seemed like the right time for me to retire, too,” said Mark “Jimmy” Crain, in between taking photographs with families and friends in downtown Shepherdstown. “We’ve been doing this together for the last 21 years.”

Crain had begun thinking about retiring from his position as the town’s Santa Claus, since he and his wife moved from Shepherdstown to Bangor, Maine seven years ago. That move had been in the works for some time, due to a job change and the desire to be closer to family, though its timeline was moved forward after the couple’s house burned to the ground. Now that some time has passed since then, Crain is able to look back on it with a positive twist.

“Santa, of course, has to live at the North Pole — the ‘Maine’ North Pole,” Crain said, with a chuckle.

He and Shepherd were already friends, when she approached him about playing Santa Claus. Although he was hesitant about taking on the role, which involved multiple appearances over a two-week period, his wife encouraged him to give it a try. He soon after found himself loving the role and how it enabled him to connect with and support the community.

“I’ve never gone looking for paying gigs,” Crain said. “Early on, 17 or 18 years ago, I did some other events in the area. Whenever the topic of remuneration came up, I always asked them to make a donation to the Shepherdstown Volunteer Fire Department.”

The charitable donation made sense to him, as after he had agreed to Shepherd’s request he accepted a second role in town, as the Santa Claus for the fire department’s free, annual Christmas dinner. Between this and his other appearances, Crain said he has found himself loving the experience of bringing magic to the holidays for local children.

“It’s always a joy to see the kids and see what is on their lists each year, and the evolution of that,” Crain said. “What is one of the amazing things is that, when I started doing it, some of the kids that came then — they have children now, who are coming to see Santa. It’s cool to see each generation grow up and keep the same traditions with their own children.”

In the future, Crain said he and his wife plan to continue visiting Shepherdstown on a semi-regular basis, to see their friends in the area. But, now that he has retired, those visits will no longer involve him having to purchase hundreds of candy canes or pack up his Santa suit — that will now stay home, for the occasional use at a couple of community events in the nearby town of Belfast, Maine.

“When I first began doing this, I had to use a fake beard and fake Santa belly. But time has helped on the beard and time has helped on the tummy. Now, I look like Santa Claus even when I’m out of the suit,” Crain said. “It’s been a tough time, saying goodbye to all of this — this was the last Christmas tree lighting ceremony, the last Who-liday Celebration, the last parade, the last Christmas dinner,” Crain said, “But I knew this was the right time to make this change.”