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His granddaughter calls him the “Santa Claus” of Halloween. Linus would probably think of him as the Great Pumpkin.

But 82-year-old George Smith only sees himself as someone who enjoys giving to others, a lot.

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Smith has become a sort of a legend for dozens of kids in the Oakridge area, who every year come together to trick-or-treat at his home. The reason for his popularity? The kilogram bags of candy he gives away to children.

“At around 6 p.m., you can see about 50 to 60 kids with their parents gathering around outside my house and coming to my door in groups of three or four kids,” Smith says with a smile.

It’s a tradition Smith says he started about 15 years ago with his wife, Kathleen, who simply loved to give candies to kids. Smith says he can’t quite recall how it all happened, simply saying as their popularity grew, so did their bags.

“As time went on, more kids started to hear about this and we realized the audience of kids was growing, so we had to keep up by increasing the size of the bags,” Smith said.