South Dakota’s State Treasurer Rich Sattgast had a nice piece written about him in the Rapid City Journal this AM. And according to the article, apparently, he’s Santa:
For South Dakota State Treasurer Richard Sattgast, nearly every day is Christmas. And, to his distinct pleasure, he gets to play Santa Claus.
and…
On a personal level, Sattgast said the program has changed his own world.
“It’s made a great impact in my life,” he said by phone from his Pierre office. “This is definitely the most fun of all the state treasurer’s duties. When is returning something that has been lost not a great feeling? When you’ve found someone’s wallet and you’re able to give it back to them, that’s the feeling I get to feel every day.”
Sattgast said the range of items and their values returned to South Dakotans were quite diverse. Since assuming his post, he said, he has found for state legislators stock dividends that were valued at 25 cents. He also once returned property that looked like a Hot Lotto jackpot.
“When I first became state treasurer five years ago, I was able to return over $1 million to a family in Sioux Falls,” Sattgast recalled. “They actually were a fairly well-to-do family in South Dakota, and the father had passed away. The estate had been settled, but they had missed stock in an oil company in Colorado. They were grateful, I will say that.”