By SHANTI HAHLER
For The Herald
Jeans and a T-shirt, black pants and a blouse, or a red sequin dress.
Those are all things that some people might wear on Christmas Day.
But Tom Barkholz prefers a clown suit and brightly colored makeup. For five years, Barkholz has dressed as a clown to visit and bring stuffed toys to anyone, young or old, who is in the Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington on Christmas Day.
An employee at Bayliner, Barkholz learned to do balloon animals at a Christian education conference, and how to juggle from a clown who visited his local church. He said he can’t remember why he started doing it, but anyone who has to be in the hospital on Christmas deserves something.
"There’s a lot of hurting people, and I think we need more people to just give out a smile," Barkholz said.
Wearing an array of colorful clothes he has collected along the way, Barkholz spends almost 45 minutes putting on his makeup and suiting up for the big day.
"I wear things that are hand-me-downs, from thrift stores, and things that are, ‘Wow, doesn’t that look bizarre?’ You have to think Partridge family bus," Barkholz said of the colorful vehicle the former TV family traveled in.
After spending a few minutes with patients from the emergency room, intensive care unit and maternity ward, Barkholz hands them a new stuffed animal or doll, chats for a few minutes and wishes them a merry Christmas. But each patient he meets leaves a lasting imprint on his heart.
"Every year, there is something that just pulls at you. I had one older lady who after I gave her the stuffed toy, she started crying and told me, ‘If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had a Christmas.’
"And when I met a new mother who had just had twins, I found two matching stuffed fawns in my bag and gave them to her, saying, ‘Twins for twins.’
"And one woman who was on a gurney looked really upset. She was crying a lot, so I went and gave her a great big bear, and she just grabbed it and held onto it. I found out after that she had miscarried," Barkholz said.
His family has been supportive, though at times they enjoy making fun of his yearly hobby. Whenever they see a picture of a clown, they never miss a chance to point and say, ‘There’s Dad!’ "
"I think it’s great! It’s a ministry for our family, and it has been great for the kids. They have really learned a lot. They know Dad going to the hospital is part of our family Christmas, and it would not be Christmas without it," said his wife, Karen.
Most of the toys that Barkholz gives out he collects throughout the year, and many come from donations made by friends, church members and others.
"Last year, the Sauk River Trading Post donated something like 100 Beanie Babies," he said. "This year, the receptionist at my dentist office told all her friends to give her stuffed toys for her last birthday, and then she gave them to me. I got about 15 of the toys from her."
Barkholz also has put on his clown costume at other times of the year, including visits to his children’s school, at community events and the family’s church. Barkholz also makes balloon animals and juggles at those events.
"Funny!" is how Barkholz’s 11-year-old son Steven sums it up.
Barkholz likes the way people react to him when he’s a clown.
"People seem to open up to a clown," he said. "I was once sitting and eating lunch, and someone sat down next to me and told me their whole life story. I thought, ‘Why me?’ They will talk to a clown more than to just me," Barkholz said.
Before Barkholz leaves Cascade Valley Hospital, he always leaves a line of 10 or so stuffed toys at the front counter to wait for someone who needs a soft hug and a little extra comfort on Christmas.
"If I can give them a smile, then it’s all worth it," Barkholz said.
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