Merry Christmas 2006
by Family Research Council
December 21, 2006
As many of us get ready to leave to celebrate Christmas with our families, let us end on a high note with some inspirational Christmas stories from this year (For the three people who have missed it, This Day in History/Quote of the Day will return when I do next week.)
First off let us look at Santa’s helpers who work on his behalf in all the malls. A recent survey found that 90 percent say they get their beards pulled daily; About half nearly lose their glasses from clutchy kids every shift; Some 60 percent are sneezed or coughed on up to 10 times a day; About a third have been wet on and more than half say they get their boots stepped on as many as 10 times a day. Despite all this the survey, commissioned by Auntie Anne’s pretzel shops, revealed that Santa’s love their jobs.
“Everybody comes in a good mood and that puts me in a good mood,” said Steve Macarus, 39, of Elgin, who was playing Santa at Navy Pier on Wednesday. “It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” said Johnson, a retired printer. “There’s no, ‘Aw, do I have to go to work today?’ I look forward to it.”
The only number from the survey I have a dispute with is:
Some 75 percent of kids say they’ve been good all year, the survey reported.
Now going to Vermont and a story that we hear a version of every year. A good hearted soul in Barre, VT put a coin from 1908 that is potentially worth up to $14,000 into one of the Salvation Army’s red kettles. You can donate any type of coin you want to the Red Cross here.
From Maine comes the story of how for “15 years, the Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington has been taking Christmas wreaths to the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., to decorate the graves of fallen U.S. soldiers and sailors. A burst of publicity this year came with two developments. First, instead of just focusing on the Arlington cemetery, the company started what it calls “Wreaths Across America” and sent six wreaths each to 230 state and national cemeteries in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. The expansion was the bright idea of Karen Worcester, who with her husband, Merrill Worcester owns and runs the company.” The picture on the blog is from their current laying of the wreaths.
Finally for any last minute shoppers with $18,920.59 to spare might I suggest you pick up the Twelve Days of Christmas? Every year PNC tabulates the cost and this year saw it getting close to the $19 thousand mark:
This story about a 
I predicted Al D’Amato would beat Chuck Schumer. I predicted George 
The campaign, launched on Thursday and entitled “Wien sieht’s anders” (Vienna sees it differently) is part of the City’s “Gender Mainstreaming” project.