NBC's Today Show

MATT LAUER, co-host:

And we're back on a Friday morning, the 31st day of January, 1997. And we decided to come out and say hello to some people who've gathered outside our studio, instead of being shut-ins that we have been for the past hour and a half. We're outside with people now. I'm Matt Lauer, along with Katie Couric and Al Roker. We have some people we want to talk to.

KATIE COURIC, co-host:

Actually, we do. Mr. Bill McReynolds. Mr. McReynolds, hi, good morning.

Mr. BILL McREYNOLDS: Hi, Katie.

COURIC: Nice to see you. I know Al spoke with you...

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Can I have a little hug?

COURIC: Oh, well, thank you very much. I know that Al spoke with you earlier, but we discovered some information about you that we weren't aware of earlier in the program, and that is that you're from Boulder, Colorado...

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Right.

COURIC: ...and that you are Santa Claus, as--as you mentioned...

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Right.

COURIC: ...and that for the last three years you were the Santa at the Ramseys' home...

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Right.

COURIC: ...in Boulder, Colorado. So you got to know JonBenet Ramsey. Tell us a little bit about the family.

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Well, what upsets me about this whole thing is that the family is not being celebrated enough, and were very, very
generous. For example, Patsy gave me this for this last Christmas, and how many people do you think give Santa Claus presents?

COURIC: This--this whole incident seems to be shrouded in a lot of mystery and people are wondering about the family itself, even the Ramseys have been called into question in terms of their possible involvement. When you've heard all the speculation, what do you think?

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Well, it grieves me enormously, because I adore the family. They adopted me as a member of the family, actually,
which--which they did at the memorial service, they--they recognized us. It's a very, very hard thing for me.

COURIC: And what about little JonBenet...

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Wonderful.

COURIC: ...I know you have a cute story about--you used to put glitter in your beard.

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Well, yes. I tell the story about going out as Santa Claus and--for a--for a rehearsal, and the--we run into stars, and I put stardust on my beard, and so I put glitter on it, and so JonBenet especially liked that, so she gave me a little vial of Stardust, or glitter, and I took it with me to the hospital this year because I had a major operation, near-death experience and all of that. And then after I got well, I came to the party this year, it's one of my favorite parties, she gave me another one. So I gave one of the vials to the family for their celebration. We don't celebrate children enough, Katie.

COURIC: And tragically you were there two days before she was murdered.

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Two days before, right. Yeah, it was very, very difficult. Kind of like a thunderbolt or a lightning bolt, or whatever it is.

COURIC: Well, Mr. McReynolds, thanks very much for talking with us.

Mr. McREYNOLDS: You're so welcome.

COURIC: And since you know the family, it must be very difficult for you, so we appreciate it.

Mr. McREYNOLDS: Right. You're welcome. And I'm going to be on the Geraldo show, if I should say that.

COURIC: OK. Well, that's all right, you can mention that. Thanks for talking with us.

Anyway, Matt, you are telling us what's coming up.

LAUER: We have a couple of interesting segments in this half hour. We're going to take a look at a profession we don't see very much of anymore, we're going to talk about milkmen. And then also we are going to take a look at some unusual foods you'll probably see on your supermarket shelves in the months ahead. They come courtesy from the Fancy Foods Show in San Francisco. But before we get to that, let's go inside one more time to Ann Curry on this Friday morning. Ann:

ANN CURRY, anchor:

Thanks a lot, Matt.