www.mybaycity.com December 17, 2010
Local News Article 5490

Santa's Reindeer Visit Wirt Library

Reindeer team will make 90 appearance this season.

December 17, 2010
By: Stephen Kent


It's nice being able to take your daughter to see Santa's Reindeer during the Christmas season... even if she's 26 years old. Emily saw the reindeer at Sage Library on her way home from work last week and called saying "Daddy... take me to pet the reindeer". We couldn't get there in time that night, but Em checked it out and learned that Santa's team would be at the Wirt Library the next week. So Thursday night we bundled up and joined the crowd of kids around the pen in front of the library.

The team came from Rooftop Landing Reindeer Farm (www.rooftopreindeer.com) in Clare. Dave Aldrich, one of the owners was in the pen along with John Bourland. Dave said that they've booked 90 appearances this year and they've turned down a hundred more requests. They travel to schools and libraries during the week and do business appearances on weekends. "We travel all over the state", said Dave. He then laughed and said that's about $1,500 in gas last week. He might want to consider hitching the team to the truck and flying.

Appearing at Wirt was 5 year old Blizzard and 4 year old Nick. They're part of a herd of some 16 deer that travel during the season. These two are both male. Like most deer, reindeer shed their antlers each year and grow a new set. Unlike other deer, both male and female reindeer have antlers. "They grow a full set in about eight weeks", said John. "You can almost see them grow".

The dozens of little kids were all enchanted by the reindeer. Some were bold and came right up to pet the deer. Others hung back just not quite sure about that big animal with those huge antlers. Many of the kids had questions.
"Why aren't they with Santa at the North Pole?" Well, these guys are on the backup team.
"What do they eat?" They love apples.
"Can I touch him?" Oh Yes, they like kids.

After leaving the reindeer we were greeted at the door by Santa Cook. He said he's one of the cooks from Santa's shop and he was grilling hot dogs. It's hard to resist hot dogs after a reindeer expedition on a cold night, so we went inside to The Mug@Wirt coffee shop for a couple of hot ones. Mmmmm good!

Many of the kids outside had handmade antlers on their own heads. The children's section of the library had an activity area set up and kids were all over the place making antlers, looking at books and generally enjoying the library.

As usual, the Library proved to be a great place to enjoy the evening. And it's all free!

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John Bourland, with Blizzard and Nick, answers questions.


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"Do you have an apple", asked Dave. "Nick acts like he smells one."


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What could be better than petting one of Santa's Reindeer


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Santa Cook grills hot dogs outside The Mug@Wirt coffee shop door.


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More than fresh grilled hot dogs, the Mug@Wirt has lots of treats, and hot drinks!


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Reindeer Puppet Craft: Glue 2 hand prints "antlers" to the top of the reindeer head. Add 2 blue dots for eyes and one bright red dot for the nose.
Cailee (age 8), Dad Keith, and sister Ashlynn (age 4) make Reindeer Puppets in the children's section.


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Children's section librarians Marcia and Linda have that Christmas spirit.




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