Recently Santa was able to visit with his good friend Jackson. Jackson has been on Santa’s Nice list since his very first Christmas!
Earlier this year, Jackson was playing putt-putt golf at Disney World – it is one of Santa’s favorites because it has a beautiful Christmas theme! Jackson had a great time throughout the whole course and really loved his red golf ball!
On the 18th hole, Jackson’s red golf ball went into the hole for the last time. But Jackson did not get his ball back!! After thinking about it, Jackson decided that since it was a Christmas golf course, the ball had traveled all the way to Santa at the North Pole. And he was right!
Santa knew he would be seeing Jackson soon, and when they got together, Jackson and his red golf ball were reunited!!
Lots of times, children ask Santa about his “Naughty or Nice” lists, especially, how can Santa keep up with ALL the children in the world?!?
Santa can tell you, it’s a group effort! Without the Elves and Mrs. Claus, Santa would never be able to make a list, never mind about checking it twice! Plus, Santa has even more helpers – all the Mommies and Daddies, Teachers, Bus drivers, even babysitters act as Santa’s eyes and ears! They send their reports to the North Pole every day! Why just this morning, Santa was reading reports about Tyler and Camron, and Ally and Willow, just to name a few! And what good reports they were! Santa hopes that all the reports coming to the North Pole will be as good as those!
As of right this moment, there are only 122 days left until Christmas – so let’s all do our best to stay on the Nice list – be helpful at home, be kind to everyone, and keep Christmas in your heart, all year round!
Did you know that Santa wears a special watch? Not only does it tell time, but it lets Santa know when he is needed back at the North Pole. All the Elves (or Mrs. Claus!) have to do is go to the “Find Santa Machine” and pull the lever, which sends a signal out all over the world until it reaches Santa’s watch. The two tubes on the watch begin to glow, letting Santa know he must contact his workshop right away!
Next time you see Santa, be sure to check out his watch! Have you ever seen a watch like this before?
Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer? Their names 1st appeared in a poem almost 200 years ago! In 1823, the poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in the Troy, N.Y. Sentinel. While people have long thought that Clement Moore was the author of this poem, which ultimately became “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, lately, the thought is that a Dutch New Yorker named Henry Livingston wrote the poem.
Why is that, you might ask?
Well, in the original poem, the names of two of the reindeer were DUNDER and BLIXEM, which are the Dutch words for Thunder and Lightning. However, Clement Moore was German, and when he reprinted the poem in 1844, he changed those names to DONNER and BLITZEN, which are the German words for Thunder and Lightning.
So there you have it!
Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!
And of course, Rudolph, but his is a story for another time! Ho, ho ho!!!
Did you know that the tradition of gift-giving at Christmas time came from Holland?
In Holland, they celebrate St. Nicholas’ (my predecessor) Feast Day on December 6. Children leave their shoes out overnight and the next morning they wake up to find that St. Nicholas had left them gifts in their shoes.
According to legend, hanging stockings came from the tale of a poor man who had three daughters. The man was so worried that he could not afford to make sure they had good marriages. St. Nicholas heard about the man’s plight and that evening he dropped a bag of gold down their chimney. It fell into a stocking that was hung to dry by the fire, and the rest was history!
What will you find in your stocking this Christmas?
