December 9, 2017

1. And here's what happened to and around Santa today. The day started early at the Mane and Taill fundraiser up at B.K. Shuckers at 8am which meant Santa was up before 6 on a Saturday. The weather was frightful, but no snow just rain and clouds! I remember looking at my watch at 8:05 and the next time I looked at it, it read 9:56. I had no idea where the 2 hours went! It was a wonderful time with visits with families I had seen in previous years and some new ones too!
   Then... it was on to Southern Crossing for the FFHS Journalism department fundraiser where we started a little slowly but it picked up after 1pm and the room was very seldom empty after that. The group did an excellent job taking pictures and the families all seemed satisfied with the experience! Again there were some folks Santa had seen before and I had a great time with the Tyson Family especially! Santa's day closed with a visit to The Laughing Lollipop in downtown Manteo! This is one of several locally owned businesses that are providing an important service in Manteo! It was a nice lowkey way to end Santa's day. I had a chance to get to know and interact with the owners of the shop!
   There were many children that sat on Santa's lap today and told him their fondest wishes or not! And Santa loved everyone of them! Here are the highlights: Legos and Barbies were very popular today, with Minecraft definitely in the mix. Santa was also asked for two separate pogo sticks, a motorcycle, a surfboard and a fishing rod! There was also a request for a flying bat and a drum set, which drew a response from Mom of, "Call me on that one, Santa!" The young fellow replied "you know I won't play early in the morning" and Mom just nodded her head! But by far, Santa's favorite request was the little girl who asked for a reindeer suit! When asked who was her favorite reindeer she replied, " Pete!" "Pete?" I asked. "Pete" was the answer!
   That's all, Folks!