Wilf Salo (Santa Claus) He could wish you Merry Christmas in 14 different languages and seem to know everyone in the area.  He was Sudbury's official Santa Claus - no one could do it better, and he was loved by all!  Every year in the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, children of all generations would come to the CKSO TV studio to visit with Santa and have a chance to say hello to family and friends on television.  He went on the air during CKSO's first Christmas in 1953 and continued for 35 years! Wilf Salo came with his family from Finland and moved around Northern Ontario including Copper Cliff and Magpie, near Wawa before making Sudbury their home in 1918.  His family, whose original surname was Lakaniemi would return to Finland four years later leaving Wilf at only 15 years of age to fend for himself. Wilf found work on the railway and at various mining companies and lumber camps.  He took up wrestling and he drove taxicabs before marrying Nellie Pernu, of Sudbury.  Wilf then settled down in the merchandise business as floor manager for Silverman’s Store where he remained from 1929 to 1965. In addition to appearing daily on CKSO TV in the weeks before Christmas, Wilf's status as Sudbury's Official Santa Claus was well earned and deserved due to a 50-year span in serving as Santa at Silverman’s, for the Shriners, the Lions Club, the General and Memorial Hospitals, Police and Fire Departments, Retarded Children’s Association, the CNIB and, of course, Sudbury’s own Santa Claus Parade.