NATCHEZ &8212; This may be the first year Larry L. Brown Jr. has officially donned the well-padded outfit and jaunty red hat.

But Brown, a local entrepreneur who is developing condos along the bluff, is no stranger to the Santa Claus Committee &8212; not by a long shot.

His earliest memory of it was sitting in front of a family friend&8217;s house waiting for the committee&8217;s annual parade to come along.

&8220;I must have been about 3 or 4 years old,&8221; Brown said. &8220;Then, when I was about 14 or 15 years old, my father let me ride in a car in the parade before I was even old enough to be a (committee) member.

&8220;Actually,&8221; he added, &8220;I can&8217;t remember a time in my life without the Santa Claus Committee.&8221;

And now Brown, who moved back to Natchez in 2004, is serving as this year&8217;s Santa Claus for the committee.

That&8217;s a title that has special meaning, considering his father &8212; former mayor and current state Transportation Director Larry L. &8220;Butch&8221; Brown &8212; has also held the title.

Each year, an executive committee of past Santas meets to select a new St. Nick from among 300 members.

&8220;It&8217;s quite a honor,&8221; the younger Brown, 38, said.

But that&8217;s not just because it&8217;s family tradition.

Each year, the Children&8217;s Christmas Tree Fund raises thousands of dollars to buy Christmas presents for needy children of the area.

Those presents are distributed to the children at a ceremony at Braden School each year on Christmas Eve.

And members of the Santa Claus Committee raise money to make up what the Children&8217;s Christmas Tree Fund doesn&8217;t get from other donations.

In addition to serving at the Christmas Fund event and in the parade, Santa Claus also visits the Natchez Children&8217;s Home later this week.

&8220;From what the other (past Clauses) have told me, the look on the children&8217;s faces is what makes it for them, the joy you see there,&8221; Brown said.

And Brown&8217;s stint as the jolly old elf came just in time to delight another youngster. He and his wife, Sasha, greeted their first child, Ansley Elizabeth, a little more than four months ago.