Man About Town: A Christmas special delivery

Chris Erskine gets elf-ish at Glendale Galleria. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 21, 2012 12:51 PM PT

Chris Erskine experiences the holidays through the perspective of some of Santa’s hardest-working helpers.

Chris Erskine dons his wife’s gardening gloves to work at a Christmas tree lot in South Pasadena. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Tying trees to car roofs can get tricky. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Erskine helps UPS driver Dave Nieto deliver Christmas and holiday packages in Santa Monica. The easy part of the day? Driving. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Lift with the legs. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Making sure that holiday packages arrive in a timely manner is UPS driver Dave Nieto, with an assist from Erskine. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Wait, who’s this? Oh, yes: Erskine prosthetically made up as a resident of Whoville for Grinchmas at Universal Studios. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Erskine and elementary schoolchildren get in the holiday spirit with a snowball fight at Universal Studios Hollywood. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Pastor Gary Dennis, right, of La Canada Presbyterian Church talks about his 40 Christmas sermons as a minister. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)