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This was published on the front page of The Oregonian on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001.
By STU WATSON
THE DALLES -- For more than 30 years, a "secret Santa" in this Columbia River Gorge town has bought hundreds of new gifts for less fortunate parents to wrap and give to their children on Christmas morning.
All the children know is that they have a present from mom or dad, not who paid for it. That's important to the secret Santa, who was a child of poverty and hated the public giveaways that made him feel bad about being poor.
This year, Santa's helpers have chosen about 800 gifts that will go to more than 600 children. The Santa who pays the bill -- often reaching $15,000 to $20,000 -- keeps his name out of the limelight, and those who help him carefully guard his identity.
But they think it's time people know who the secret Santa is, because this, most likely, is his last Christmas.
He's dying from a progressive lung disease.
Watching from a motorized wheelchair as his grandchildren ran through a store gathering toys last Saturday, Jim Ellett said he'd still rather remain in the background, his identity unknown.
But it's time, he said, for someone else to carry on his tradition of giving. He'd do it himself, if he could.
But he can't.
"The doctor told me I'd never see another Christmas," Ellett said.
Even now, as the 68-year-old Ellett battles idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, he focuses on needy kids and their parents.
It's a tradition that he and his wife, Loretta, quietly began three decades ago, using profits from their Ellett Construction Co. to create a gift exchange in which givers and recipients would feel no shame.
Helen Madsen, a friend of Ellett's and a member of the Salvation Army board, has followed the progress and growth of the gift-giving program since the late 1970s. She estimates the combined value of gift purchases over the years easily could exceed $400,000.
"Truthfully, we couldn't have done as much for the children without his help," she said. "We were able to give them three real nice gifts, plus stocking stuffers."
On Saturday, the Salvation Army will set up a makeshift store at a local shopping center. Parents then may come in and select toys.
"We give them to the parents, and say, 'You go home and wrap it and say it's from whomever,' " said Capt. Sabrina Tumey of the Salvation Army.
Ellett is visibly embarrassed when questions turn to dollars and cents. To him, the project isn't about competition or public praise. It's about creating stronger bonds between children and their parents.
Ellett grew up in a shack on a hill in The Dalles. His father supported his mother and their five children on a slim disability check, for mustard gas injuries suffered in World War I.
"We were never hungry, and we had a lot of love," Ellett recalled.
He remembers Christmas charity as a kid -- hand-me-down toys and an orange, presented in a packed auditorium.
"It was so humiliating," he said. "I don't think it was right to rub your nose in it. They never meant it that way, but that's the way it worked out."
As soon as they could, the Elletts started helping parents of limited means buy new items for their children. First, it was clothing gift certificates. Then toys, relayed through the Salvation Army.
"The kids have to think better of their parents when they think the parents got the gifts for them," Ellett said.
"It gives them pride, and it gives the parents pride."
Watching from his wheelchair during last weekend's shopping spree, Ellett coached his helpers as they pushed empty shopping carts out -- and full carts back.
"You're not spending enough money," he lovingly chided his 7-year-old granddaughter, Makenzie Ellett.
Grandson Tyler Fisher, 10, of Vancouver, Wash., is an experienced designated shopper.
"It's pretty fun," he said. "You put your hand behind all the Hot Wheels, and go . . ."
He swept his hand sideways, imaginary toys tumbling from a shelf into his shopping cart.
Haley Ellett, 7, considered her shopping cart, jammed full of toys.
"We know how to shop," she said. "We're fast, and we know lots of things for kids my age."
Ellett said the shopping teaches the children a lesson about giving. People should give, he said, without expecting a pat on the back.
"I think the good Lord meant for you to help other people," he said. "Maybe it hasn't helped as much as I think, but I think it's helped a lot of kids through some tough times."
The Salvation Army says the Elletts are among many who contribute to its toy fund every holiday season. They all deserve thanks, Tumey said.
"It's the same impulse, but he's in a position where he's blessed with so much," Tumey said. "I don't know that he thinks it's such a huge thing. It's just what he does."
This year, the need for toys has increased, Tumey said.
"We're seeing a lot of folks who are in minimum-wage jobs, the working poor, who are trying to make it, and need help to bridge the gap," she said.
She says Ellett has a huge heart.
"I think he realizes he's been blessed, and in being blessed, he wants to do as the Scripture says: Love people in the way you would want to be loved," Tumey said.
"God bless Mr. Ellett as he's having to put things in final order."