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They weren’t exactly eight tiny reindeer prancing over the snow at the Birch Hill cross-country ski trails on Sunday afternoon.

Then again, the skiers roped together with branches on their heads weren’t exactly pulling the most convincing Santa Claus.

I first played Santa Claus in 1992 at the ABC Preschool. What I remember most was the little boy who sat down a couple of feet from Santa’s throne. He kept repeating sadly, “I thought you were the real Santa.”

I restrained myself from the urge to ever play Santa again until Sunday.

Three days before Christmas Eve, Santa and the reindeer were pressed into service for the annual Candy Cane ski race. About 70 children, most of them in kindergarten or first grade, skied the course and waited to meet Mr. Claus.

In looking at the pictures of the event that Aelin Peterson Allegood sent me later, I had to agree with one of the more observant reindeer.

He said it appeared that another famous bell ringer was wearing the Santa suit — a jolly old elf named Quasimodo.

The strategically placed pillows added enough to my bulk meant that I couldn’t fasten my ski boots unaided. I had several layers underneath the pillows because I wanted to stay warm while delivering the requisite “ho-ho-hos” and handing out candy canes.

I thought I had a much better disguise than the reindeer. They had spruce and birch branches duct taped to the sides of their heads for antlers.

Some went for branches without leaves, or sticks covered with moss, while others favored the spruce-needle look, which is all the rage among reindeer this season.

The children who skied the course received medals provided by the ConocoPhillips Healthy Futures program after navigating obstacles set out in the stadium section of the ski area.

Denise Jerome helped organize the event. Talking with her daughter later, the child said something about how some of the kids probably thought that the real reindeer were going to show up Sunday.

This wasn’t necessarily a criticism, as the faux reindeer seemed to be nearly as coordinated as Santa’s crew and they flew over the snow, albeit in slow motion.

“They were funny reindeer,” one of the kids said.

When the funny reindeer pulled Santa into view, some of the kids had puzzled looks on their faces.

They might have been confused to see people with branches on their heads hooked up like a dog team. Santa had only one tiny silver ornament that didn’t create enough noise for a solitary version of “Jingle Bell.”

Bill the Reindeer Herder organized the team and helped procure the antler selection.

In one of several e-mails before the race, he said, “If we get good we may start a new team competition ski event, ‘Synchronized Skiing.’ Also bring a pair of sunglasses so we can help hide our identity.”

Synchronized or not, I have never met a better bunch of unidentified reindeer.

If you have a column suggestion or a comment, contact me at cole@newsminer.com or 459-7530.