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Many of the men brought the Mrs. and the family. Some even brought their dogs to the event, which included an all-Santa tug of war.

"Gotta eat more ice cream," one Mrs. Santa advised the team that lost the hotly contended rope-pulling contest.

In full vacation mode, traveling Santas from 41 states and Canada shed their trademark fur-trimmed red winter suits. Instead, they wore an assortment of Hawaiian shirts, golf shirts and T-shirts paired with short pants and long pants. Assorted headgear included cowboy hats, baseball hats, Panama hats and a few hats that might have been borrowed from a couple of elves.

Santa Dave from Oceanside sported a pair of jams decorated with the kind of flames most often seen on hot rods. Another Santa wore a T-shirt that described four stages of life: "You believe in Santa; You believe Santa is fake; you play Santa; and you look like Santa."

Santa Ed Smrt, 63, of Valley Center, was working magic at the grill. A former employee of the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department, he's been a Santa for two years, he said.

Santa Gary Kunkle, 57, of Oceanside, has put in three years of service, beginning when some co-workers persuaded him to give out food to needy children at a school. Seeing the children's happy reactions, he was hooked, he said.

"Santa really has some influence," he said. "He can really touch some lives."

The oldest member of the group, Santa George McNally, 75, has almost 11 years in the business, he said. And in all the years he's been at it, with more than 300,000 visitors to his credit, there are two things that have never happened, he said.

"Never had my beard pulled, and never been wet on," he said.

Timothy Connaghan, known as Santa Tim, serves as executive director of the group, the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, an international organization dedicated to the "joy of being Santa." The 57-year-old Riverside resident has been a Santa for 37 years, beginning in 1969 when he played the role for his military buddies in Vietnam, he said. Seven years ago he gave up the costume beard for a real one and joined the organization of real-bearded gentlemen who shared his interest.

"Many of them are somebody's grandpa who started out going to the grandkids day care," Connaghan said.

The group was founded in 1994 by Santa Tom Hartsfield, of Utah, who came up with the name after he and nine other Santas met in Los Angeles on a film shoot for a German television advertisement. The 10 men shared experiences and ideas, and the organization was born. The group now has about 575 members who convene for two events per year: a luncheon in January and a picnic in July.

Santa Tom Kliner, 47, and his wife, Willy, traveled from Kelowna, British Columbia, for the picnic.

"We left the sleigh at home," said Willy, who works as Mrs. Santa. The couple's daughter, Deidre, 14, fills the role of elf.

Kliner has an Internet site and an online chat group. What kinds of things do Santas talk about? The finer qualities of velvet and how to keep a beard white, he says. Secrets are shared on the site, including one about the Clairol-white Santa who goes through four stages of chemical processing to get exactly the right shade.

Throughout the year, the Santas work at malls, public and private parties and churches, and they often volunteer at charity events, hospitals and retirement homes. The job description is pretty basic, said Hartsfield, who gives classes on how to play the part.

"You have to like kids," he said. "And you have to have patience ---- especially with the parents."

For information, visit the Web site at www.AORBSantas.com; or www.GetAHeadStart.info; or www.RealSantas.com. Santa chat online at www.santatom.com

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.