Santas by the dozens drink up holiday cheer.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

For the 10th annual Santa Pub Crawl, at least 110 folks dressed as Santa Claus, his reindeer and elves treated patrons of several downtown bars and any pedestrian and automobile traffic that happened to be in the area to a colorful spectacle of costume and song.

Last Saturday, they gave members of the visiting Idaho State basketball team high fives; did a conga line through a Hawaiian-themed party at the Hilton Eugene, interrupting a karaoke duet; and dashed away from a hemp activist who wondered why they didn't need a permit to assemble.

For 10 years, starting with 22 Santas in 1996, Pat Mackey, also known as Santa Juke, has organized the event. Anticipating a big crowd, this year Mackey had a contingency plan, "Operation Dual Sleigh," involving more than one route, in case too many Santas showed up for the public, yet unpublicized, event.

The night kicked off at Diablo's/Downtown Lounge, which had the Billy Bob Thorton movie "Bad Santa" on its televisions and several waitresses in Santa hats.

Before heading out, Mackey got on stage to remind participants of ground rules for a successful crawl.

"Obey all local laws," Mackey told the crowd, noting they've had only one "incident" during the years. "But she was bailed out real quick and did her community service."

Another rule: Don't mess with authority figures or children. "It's confusing enough to kids that there are a bunch of weird-looking Santas," Mackey said.

The Santas ranged from traditional to odd. A genuine-looking Santa Bill, who said he made his outfit 30 years ago, sported a natural white beard, while another man went the flashy route wearing a shiny gold blazer and sunglasses.

One man wore handmade red moccasin-style boots and black spandex tights; another wore a red union suit, a bathrobe and a full white beard and wig. A few female Santas dubbed him "sleepy Santa," and seemed delighted when another man in red pajamas handed out small cards with his photo on them.

Who knew Old St. Nick was up for so much interpretation? Ask the Santa in zebra print pants, or the woman in the kilt and Santa hat. One Santa archivist was so into his role that he dressed his camera as Santa.

`Allure of drunken anonymity'

The first stop after Diablo's was the Bier Stein, which was nowhere near large enough to hold the swelling group.

Dylan Irish didn't have time to finish his 22-ounce beer at the stop, but took time in transit to explain that this was his first Santa Pub Crawl.

He thought it was so fun it should happen twice a year.

"I think it's the community," Irish said, explaining the activity's appeal. "People want to get together and be social."

Santa Cy explained it is "the allure of drunken anonymity."

As the block-long line of Santas traveled through the Lane Transit District downtown station on the way to Luckey's, one bus customer was not amused.

"Go to Hayward Field," he said several times as Santas passed him, making hostile hand motions. One Santa giggled and said he had "Santi- mosity."

"We're going to a new venue," Mackey announced over the megaphone. "Let's be jolly."

The group splintered a bit at Luckey's, when some Santas went ahead to the next stop so they'd be sure to get a drink.

At Oregano's Grill on Olive Street, Santas got free drink tickets.

"A ticket?" one Santa said incredulously when he heard everyone was to line up single-Santa to get the ticket. "But I didn't do anything. I'm going to fight this to the Supreme Court."

Local businessman Dan Giustina and his wife, Ashley Berrington, were sharing a meal near the bar when the Santas flooded the area.

Surrounded, the couple began socializing with Santas, Berrington borrowed a songbook and sang along with altered Christmas carols.

"We think this is fun," Giustina said. "This is Christmas before Christmas."

The Santas exited through the restaurant's back door and did a quick stroll through Cozmic Pizza, behind which a few Santas took furtive pulls from flasks.

Participants took care to stay on the sidewalk and avoid jaywalking before forming a mass of about 100 in the driveway of the Hilton Eugene on Sixth Avenue. There, the group serenaded unsuspecting hotel visitors with "Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear," to the tune of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

Next came the traditional stroll through the Hilton and the crashing of private parties. Last year, there was some sort of police ball that the Santas managed to get kicked out of; this year, those at the Hawaiian-themed party clapped for the Santas, and a pair doing karaoke version of "Hello" by Lionel Richie patiently waited for the Santas to leave the room.

A few tall young men wearing gray Idaho State T-shirts gave the passing row of Santas high fives as it headed for the door toward Jogger's.

Other stops had been 15 to 20 minutes. But the stop at Jogger's was almost an hour, after which many participants showed visible signs of intoxication.

One of the crawlers still sober enough at this stage for an interview was Amber Reyes, who called herself "Santa's helper."

"I love to dress up in costume," said Reyes, who wore a low-cut, red velvet minidress with a bow on the chest, knee high red- and white-striped socks and black Mary Janes. Her favorite part of the crawl is "seeing people's reactions."

ON THE NET See images of the Santa Pub Crawl at www.registerguard .com/santacrawls