THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411260061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICK K. LACKEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Yes, Virginia, there really are reindeer.
Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher and Rudolph browsed at Waterside all day Friday while parents photographed their children gawking at them.
If there are reindeer, there must be a Santa Claus, right?
It stands to reason.
The reindeer were participating in the Holly Festival of the Trees, an annual benefit for Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.
Most of the year, the reindeer live at a central Oregon ranch called Operation Santa Claus. They are part of a herd of about 120.
The reindeer's drivers, tour guides and handlers are Sandy and Gar Lundgren, also from central Oregon.
``We treat them like they are grandchildren,'' Sandy said, ``and it works out fine.'' In other words, she and Gar figure out what the reindeer want and give it to them. ``If you try to discipline a reindeer,'' Sandy said, ``it really doesn't work.''
Reindeer are smaller than you might think, given Santa's girth. All of the reindeer here were female, and the biggest weighed about 300 pounds. They are stockier than white-tailed deer, but not much taller than a burro.
Females are better suited to touring, Sandy said, because they are not territorial like males. Also, she said, ``the females like to go to shopping malls.''
Reindeer are cute. They have broad, fuzzy noses that twitch like a rabbit's as they sniff their straw for grain, and they have short fuzzy tails. They naturally live within the Arctic Circle and can withstand frigid temperatures.
Hollow hairs insulate their bodies, and they can restrict blood flow to their legs - keeping them just above freezing - so more blood goes to warm vital organs. To them, Friday's chilly breeze was Miami in July.
Males and females have antlers for protection.
Anne Christie of Norfolk and her 4-year-old son, Tommy, were among the hundreds of people to gaze at the reindeer Friday.
Tommy correctly guessed that the littlest reindeer, born just last April, was Rudolph.
He asked Sandy the question she figures she's answered 10,000 times the past three years. ``Why didn't Rudolph have a red nose?''
``Remember the story,'' she said, ``when Santa needs extra light at Christmas, it glows.''
``How do they fly?'' Tommy asked.
``Santa says, `Dash away, dash away, dash away, all.' ''
The reindeer were hooked to a long tether on grass just outside Waterside. The area was roped off to keep people from touching the reindeer.
At mid-morning, Santa emerged from Waterside, stepped over the restraining rope and tried to feed the reindeer straw.
Sandy eyed Santa and muttered, ``I hope he's careful.''
The reindeer shied from Santa, concerned perhaps that he'd been tippling and had gotten his dates confused.
The Holly Festival of Trees continues through Sunday, with numerous things for children to do, though the reindeer's visit ended Friday afternoon.
The festival, sponsored by Norfolk City Union of The King's Daughters, raised more than $50,000 for the children's hospital last year.
Two-thirds of the $3,500 it cost to bring the six reindeer here was paid by Hillhaven Corp., the nation's second-largest long-term health care provider. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by TAMARA VONINSKI
From right, Lucas Nelson, granddaughter Rachel Dickerson, 21 months
old, and her mother, Deborah Dickerson, watch the reindeer at
Waterside in Norfolk. The reindeer appeared Friday as part of the
Holly Festival of the Trees, which ends Sunday.
by CNB