Santas stop traffic to take a photo in front of the Reno Arch during a past Santa Crawl in downtown Reno.

December 14, 2007
Merrie Leininger, Reno Gazette-Journal

Hundreds of sauced Santas, blitzed Blitzens and jolly old elves will descend on downtown this Saturday for the annual Santa Bar Crawl fundraiser.

Organizers Matt Goedert, a San Francisco attorney who grew up in Reno and sales coordinator Tommy Keefhaver, of Reno, are hoping up to 1,000 people dressed as Santas, Mrs. Clauses and Rudolphs will go bar hopping with them Saturday night.

“We estimate, based on hits on the Web site, between 500 and 1,000 people,” Keefhaver said.

“The year before last we had 500, and last year, the snow killed a lot (of the attendance) and we still had 500. A lot of people got stuck in the snow and walked. Even my mother shows up. Even my grandparents showed up one year just to see the Santas. Just to wander around and look at people is worth the price of the suit.” ($14.99 at any Walgreens will get you a really cheap-looking Santa suit, complete with beard.) Read the rest of this entry »

The fine art of playing Santa is a balance between Christmas spirit and BAC.

PHOTO BY DAVID ROBERT

Better watch out!

Reno Santa Crawl

By Peter Thompson
petert@newsreview.com
More stories by this author…

It wouldn’t be all that surprising to find out that Santa Claus is a drinker—all that existential angst he’s got to work through every year, millions of people questioning his very existence; kids, slowly tugging on his beard asking him if he’s real. It can’t be easy. Plus, with growing childhood obesity taking its toll on the poor fella’s lap, that sixer of Thunderbird must look pretty appealing to old St. Nick at the end of a hard day at the mall. And all those “helpers” Santa has—they’re probably more like “enablers” than anything else. Read the rest of this entry »