By LISA FERGUSON

Each fall, around the time that most people choose a Halloween costume for themselves, Linda Maplethorpe selects her Christmas trees.

Having owned and operated Frosty's Christmas Trees since 1970, Maplethorpe has grown accustomed to traveling from Las Vegas to Oregon annually to pick perfect pines at a tree farm owned by her family, which began selling Christmas trees to Southern Nevadans during the 1940s.

Each year, the first bunch of Maplethorpe's trees are cut, shipped and arrive at Frosty's lots -- located at South Rainbow Boulevard and West Desert Inn Road and at 4200 N. Rancho Drive at West Craig Road -- just prior to opening for the holiday season on Thanksgiving Day.

Before she can begin ringing up sales, however, she must assemble a small crew of people to help her unload the trees. In years past she hung help-wanted signs at the lots in an effort to hire a half-dozen seasonal employees, but abandoned that practice a while ago.

"Being in business for so long, I just have my regular people come back" each year to work, Maplethorpe explains. "They'll call me ahead of time, and we'll tell them when to be here to unload a semi" truck. (To ensure the freshness of her product, she continues to have trees cut and shipped until a few days before Christmas.)

"It's a hard business," she says of the backbreaking work associated with peddling Christmas trees, and explains that she has damaged her knees as a result of all the heavy lifting she's done during the past four decades. That's why physical strength is a must-have qualification for anyone looking to work at one of her tree lots.

Unfortunately, the popularity of artificial Christmas trees among consumers as well as the struggling local economy has taken a big bite out of Maplethorpe's bottom line in recent years. Both factored into her decision not to hire any additional staff this season, she says.

That's not the case, however, for other area purveyors of holiday products and services. Some are still searching for employees as their busiest, most profitable season ramps up.

Gabor Viczko spends 10 months each year running a local window-cleaning business. Come November, his attention turns toward his other company, Holiday Illumination, which installs Christmas lighting and other decorations on the exteriors of area homes, in yards and amid foliage.

In early October, he began hiring his crew of 20 seasonal workers -- many of them professional plumbers, painters and landscapers who "are working all year long, and then about this time of year work starts slowing down so they're looking to keep their income level up, and that's when we come into place," he says.

Viczko and his team typically get to work in mid-November, and often spend 10 hours a day installing strings of lights at up to 300 homes annually.

"The guys going out there (to install), that's just the beginning" of the job, he explains. Each evening during the season, "We have to fill up all the (work) trucks." The next day, "We've got to fill orders and then, when we finish at night, we've got to come back and … clean up everything, get all the boxes ready for the next day."

Viczko admits his business volume in recent years has "been down because of the economy. This would qualify as a luxury service, because anybody can (install lights) if they have the time and knowledge to do it." Still, he continues to pay his installers between $10 and $15 per hour depending on their experience, which is gained by returning to work for his company each year, as several employees do.

He says he occasionally has positions available as late as mid-November, because "we lose people here and there. … Sometimes they move. Sometimes they just don't qualify (for employment again) after they work with us." Those interested in applying can visit www.holidayillumination.com.

While the majority of the installation work is complete by early December, Holiday Illumination's services, which start at $550 and go up, don't end there: Viczko and his workers return to customers' homes in early January to remove the lighting and can also store decorations for use the following year.

Similar to Christmas lights, Salvation Army bell ringers are ubiquitous during the holiday season.

Stationed at the front doors of shopping malls and big-box retailers throughout Southern Nevada, bell ringers hail holiday shoppers to their bright red kettles and collect donations that help fund the organization's nearly two dozen local programs.

While some bell ringers volunteer their time during the holidays, most are compensated for their effort, having been hired by Salvation Army of Clark County as seasonal employees to man kettles six days per week (excluding Sundays) at nearly 50 area locations each year.

Leslee Rogers, local kettle coordinator for Salvation Army, explains it can be difficult to find enough volunteers to cover every shift for the 30 days -- beginning the day after Thanksgiving, through Dec. 24 -- that bell ringers are needed. "So, we do hire," she says.

Employed bell ringers must be at least 18 years old and are paid minimum wage to work eight-hour shifts from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Transportation is provided for employees who may not otherwise have a way to get to and from their designated kettle locations.

The job qualifications are minimal. "They need to be able to smile and be friendly and ring a bell," Rogers explains. "Or sing, or bring some music, or play an instrument if they want to draw a little bit more attention" to themselves. "We really love for somebody to be a little bit outgoing without being rude."

Bill Drewett has worked as a Salvation Army bell ringer for 16 years -- the last six of them in front of the Walmart store at 4505 W. Charleston Blvd. Instead of ringing a bell, he sits beside his kettle and strums Christmas carols on a guitar. The 67-year-old says he's gained something of a seasonal following among shoppers.

"There's one lady who comes around every week and she throws a $20 bill into the bucket for me to (perform) an Elvis Presley song," he says. Usually, "I don't do other songs, mostly just Christmas songs, but for her I'll do an Elvis song. She says she puts $100 aside every year to give to the Salvation Army."

Drewett, who is blind, says aside from teaching guitar lessons he doesn't "work a whole lot" throughout the year, so the job with Salvation Army provides him "a little extra money, and I enjoy it. … It's a good feeling because you know you're working for a good cause."

Rogers says Salvation Army has many repeat bell-ringers. "They apparently love what they do, because they come back year after year."

Last year, Salvation Army of Clark County raised $150,000 in donations through its local kettle drive, which funded programs that provide services for residents in need of food and housing assistance, as well as help with mental-health and human-trafficking issues, among others. "Every dollar is important," Rogers says.

Salvation Army is accepting applications for paid bell-ringer positions at its Las Vegas campus, at 2900 Palomino Lane. Those interested in becoming a volunteer bell ringer can register at www.mysignup.com/kettles.

Without volunteers it is likely that Opportunity Village, which assists 1,700 area residents with intellectual disabilities in obtaining vocational training and employment, would not be able to present its annual Magical Forest holiday fundraising event.

In its 20th year, Magical Forest will be open from 5:30-9 p.m. weekdays (until 10 p.m. on weekends) Nov. 23 through Dec. 31 at Opportunity Village's campus, at 6300 W. Oakey Blvd.

Attending Magical Forest is a holiday tradition for thousands of Clark County residents. That has made Debbie Smith's job a bit easier: For more than a decade, she has coordinated up to 3,600 volunteers each year to work at the event, which raises about $1.2 million annually for Opportunity Village.

In the early years, Smith mailed letters to local businesses asking them to send employees to the event to help sell funnel cakes, work at the Santa photo booth and run the Magical Forest Express train ride. Those days are long gone; now, businesses line up to volunteer their employees' assistance for the event.

About 80 volunteers are needed on any given night at Magical Forest.

"We have built up a lot of our (volunteer) groups over the years, and 80 percent of our people come back year after year to help out," she says. "It's a neat experience."

All volunteers must be at least 18 years old, Smith explains and advises that they "dress really warm and wear comfortable shoes" for the event, which takes place largely outdoors. Volunteer opportunities are still available for dates in the latter part of December. Call 259-3700 for information.

By that time, Terry Arentz probably will be finished with his annual stint smiling for cameras, balancing children on his lap and hearing kids' Christmas wish lists.

This year marks the 11th season that Arentz -- with his authentic white beard and eyebrows -- is appearing as Santa Claus at a holiday photo booth that opened Saturday at Las Vegas Premium Outlets -- South, 7400 Las Vegas Blvd. South. It will also be his last season, since the 72-year-old plans to retire and relocate to Florida next year.

That's a shame. Good Santas are hard to come by according to Lou Marek, a manager with Las Vegas Entertainment Productions, which owns and operates the photo booth at which Arentz works and a similar booth located at The District at Green Valley Ranch.

"We are constantly looking for new Santas that have real beards and what I like to call the 'jolly personality' to work with children," Marek says. "You can't have a Santa who's a grumpy old guy, and does nothing when he talks to the kids. He has to be able to relate to children and to not promise them any specific gifts, but just tell them to be good (at) Christmastime, and for Santa and their parents and their relatives."

Potential Santas must have a squeaky-clean record, as Marek subjects applicants to both criminal background checks and drug tests. Those who are hired work six- to eight-hour shifts at the holiday photo booth, as well as appear at private and corporate parties and at-home Santa visits that Las Vegas Entertainment Productions offers as part of its event-planning services.

Meanwhile, the company also hires seasonal employees to operate the photography systems at the booths (applicants should have some computer skills ) and sell Santa portrait packages (no experience necessary). It is currently looking for people of short stature (no taller than 3 feet 6 inches) to act as Santa's elves at the photo booths and other events. Visit www.lasvegasparties.com for information about employment opportunities.

Arentz, who has portrayed Santa for three decades in cities throughout the country, takes his job very seriously and says he is careful to remain in character whenever he dons the red suit. "You never know who may be watching you, or who may hear you."

He says he has enjoyed his years working for Las Vegas Entertainment Productions at the shopping mall.

"When you're at one location for so long, the families will come back and as the kids get older. It is absolutely breathtaking sometimes some of the things they'll remember" about previous encounters with Santa "that, to them, made that visit special."

Over the years, Arentz has crafted artful answers to quell kids' queries about whether Santa truly exists. "I just tell them, 'Touch my beard, pat my belly, pinch my hand. I'm about as real as can be,' " he explains.

He also carefully tackles questions about Santa's ability to make so many special deliveries in a single night. "You can always say to a child, 'There are things you will learn as you get older. Now isn't the time for you to know everything.' "