Larry Stevens likes to say that only in America could an insurance man be sued by a red-nosed reindeer, win a judgment in the lawsuit, and then have an attorney end up with the settlement plus the fee he charged the defendant.

But that's what happened decades ago when Stevens, now 73, who lives in Salem and works for Bailey Agencies Insurance in Groton, tried to market his homemade concoction of reindeer food. The mix was neatly packaged and sported a label that featured a likeness of Rudolph, Santa's top reindeer. When Stevens tried to copyright his product, St. Nicholas Music Inc., which owned the rights to the late Johnny Marks' song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and the image of Rudolph, sued Stevens to block his use of the reindeer character.

It was the Montgomery Ward Co. that published the 1939 story about Rudolph, a character created by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May, that led to the song written by Marks the same year. But it wasn't until 1949 that singing cowboy Gene Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" made the song a No. 1 hit.

Stevens didn't think much of it when an artist he hired replicated the Rudolph image for the packaging on his reindeer food sometime back in the late 1970s, at least not until he was sued. But Stevens' lawyer countersued, and the way Stevens recalls the outcome — he received a judgment of $3,500 and was told to stop using the Rudolph likeness. That, and he owed his lawyer another $2,500.

But Stevens wasn't deterred. While he's never successfully marketed his "Reindeer Flight Food," he's still handing out the mix that his daughter and friends first inspired him to make more than 35 years ago when they asked, "Can we have some reindeer food?"

Stevens, who has a small farm and was raising horses, goats, sheep and chickens at the time, developed a mix of whole corn, oats and sunflower seeds, satisfying the youngsters' request.

Almost 40 years later, he's still buying 50-pound bags of the grain and seed, mixing it up, and scooping it into 3-ounce bags with decorative labels that include reindeer facts and a note for Santa, instructing him on which reindeer to feed, including an option for all of them.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day each year, Stevens estimates he gives away about 4,000 packages of the feed, often to the delight of total strangers. Years ago he met a woman on an elevator in Boston and handed her a packet. Now, he sends reindeer food to her home in Tampa every holiday season.

Other recipients include customers at the insurance business, staff at his doctor's appointments, friends from the marina where his son keeps his boat, attendees at the daily Alcohol Anonymous meetings he goes to, clients at nonprofits and enough for entire classrooms when he knows the schoolteacher.

He's also a justice of the peace, and when he marries a couple this time of the year, they get reindeer food.

He never hands the feed directly to children, because he doesn't want them to think it's OK for kids to take gifts from strangers.

On a recent visit to a local restaurant, Stevens gave some reindeer food to a man who held the door for him on his way out after eating. A short while later, while shopping at a big box store, the door-holder saw Stevens again and called him "Santa Claus."

Stevens has sheets of paper with names and numbers for people he needs to make deliveries to, and address labels, for the packages of feed he sends to California and Colorado, among other places.

Asked about the cost, Stevens said he's never figured it out. And added, "My wife would kill me."

"He does it out of the kindness of his heart, and to make people happy," said Stevens' daughter, Heather Stevens Rumm, who started it all about 35 years ago when she and her friends asked her father for reindeer food.

"It really is just the pleasure of giving, and that is why I carry it wherever I go," said Stevens, who doesn't hand out just reindeer food, but angel lapel pins, too.

In July 1992, Stevens survived a near-fatal car wreck caused by his alcoholism. He would continue to drink for almost another year before starting his sobriety on July 11, 1993. Soon after, he started handing out the lapel pins, attached to a notecard with a message that reads in part: "A special little angel gift for you today, hoping it makes you smile, in a special way."

Working toward his sobriety helped Stevens to learn that individuals make their own choices between right and wrong. "Every day we have the chance to wake up and be happy or not," he said.

Stevens is happy. At home at night he's filling small heavy-duty plastic bags with a scoop of reindeer food, and attaching a colorful card to each bag with "Uncle Larry's Reindeer Food" facts. (Friends and family have called him Uncle Larry for as long as he can remember, in memory of a long-ago deceased uncle.)

The reindeer trivia was written decades ago by Stevens' daughter and includes information about the arctic deer's size, speed and strength. And, there's a warning on the label that the contents are for reindeer, not human consumption.

But Stevens is an insurance man, so he's got an insurance policy on his product, just in case someone ingests it and goes after him. So far, that hasn't happened.

"It is part of who he is," said Rumm, Stevens' daughter, explaining that the time, effort and expense are "big."

"He's just very giving, and it's the same thing with the angels,' she said. "Because he had a whole second chance at life, because he should have died in that accident, he sees things differently. I think he wants to help as many people as he can, and he does. He likes to help people and encourage people. He wants to make them happy, and he does, with the reindeer food."

For information or to inquire about where to obtain some reindeer food, call Stevens at (860) 859-0876.

a.baldelli@theday.com