MIDLAND, MICHIGAN (Reuters) – Randy Schneider has considered himself a professional Santa since 1999 when he found himself at a JCPenney store buying a beard and boots.

Now, Schneider, 66, has a beard of his own.

At the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Michigan, some two hundred Santas and Mrs. Clauses came from across the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway to learn wood toy-making, brush up on storytelling skills, drive sleighs, feed reindeer and, most importantly, spread the Christmas spirit.

Cookies are readily available at all times during the three-day training course on becoming Santa.