Thank you to all the folks who showed up for our Santa on the Rooftop event. We had a lot of fun. Getting Santa, a full size sleigh and live reindeer up on our roof took a lot of planning, but everyone seemed to really enjoy seeing them up there. So, that was all good. Unfortunately, it seems there should have been more planning to get them down. We had built a ramp in the back to get up to the roof. First, a bunch of us pushed the sleigh up the ramp and onto the roof. It was work, but not especially difficult. Then we walked the reindeer we had rented up the ramp. No problem. When it came time to call it a day we figured we would just reverse the whole procedure. First we worked at getting the sleigh down. We pushed it to the edge of the ramp and then Santa jumped in to steer it on the way down. So, heres something you might want to remember: If you are ever trying to take a full size sleigh down a ramp, make sure everyone has a tight grip before Santa jumps into the front to steer it. Because, the sudden weight up front might just tip it onto the ramp and start it sliding down. You know, one thing you can say about sleighs, once they get going - those things can really fly! We have to hand it to Santa. He was able to steer it down the ramp and around the corner without hitting anything. As he shot into the front parking lot yelling and waving for everyone to get out of the way - all of the kids started yelling and waving back. When he began to slow he was able to bring the sleigh to a stop by sideswiping the mayors car. With all the cheering kids around - the mayor had to smile and pretend it was all part of the plan. Were expecting a bill from him. After that bit of excitement all we had to do was get the reindeer down and into their trailer. Now we dont know enough about reindeer to know if all reindeer will go up ramps but refuse to walk down on one, or if it just these reindeer. Or maybe, they saw the way the sleigh had barreled down and just thought going down the ramp was a bad idea. Whatever the reason, the reindeer refused to have anything to do with going down the ramp. We tried leading them with treats, we tried pushing them, we tried pulling them, we even tried having Santa and the kids call them by name. Nothing worked. Eventually, we had to hire a helicopter with a sling to lift each one off the roof. You may have seen it on the news under the headline These Reindeer Fly. Yep, flying reindeer! A Holiday miracle.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 14:49:17 +0000