Thanksgiving is officially behind us, so now it’s time to move fully into the Christmas season! By the time you read this, my tree will be up and decorating will have commenced! I don’t usually like to start this early, but I just felt the need to get started early this year! Plus I love the way my house looks all sparkly with Christmas lights!

Nothing says Christmas around the Webb Weekly office like when The Blaise Alexander Christmas Coloring Contest is in full swing! We have entries coming in left and right, and our elves are hard at work. If you haven’t heard, every year I bring in elves, straight from the North Pole, to help me out. They are helping judge the entries, along with keeping them sorted by age group, and compiling the list of names to be published the week of Christmas!

We brought in a whole new batch of the little pointy-eared imps this year, and they are little overwhelmed with the Christmas fun. I’ve already caught them headed toward Candy Cane Lane and I heard that they are looking for a ride to Knoebels for Christmas Through the Grove. Tinsel McJingles, Freddy Gumdrop and Sparky Tinselbottom, are easily distracted so if you see them out and about, please call them an Uber and send them back to our office! I’ve found dangling a Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cake in front of them like a carrot helps to keep them on task. Except for Freddy, he seems to only respond if I offer to pay him.

This is the 2nd week for the coloring contest, so you have plenty of time to get your entries in. We have LOTS of great prizes from Flyworld, English Model Railroad, Elery Nau, Hooplas, Treasure Castle Playland, Harder Sporting Goods, AMC Theaters, Dairy Queen, Trout Pond Park and Outback Roos! If you need another copy of the contest, check out our Facebook page. It is pinned to the top of the page so you can download and print it out if you need to! The page is also up on our website in a printable form if you need more copies! You can drop them off in the office or mail them to:
Blaise Alexander Christmas Coloring Contest
c/o Webb Weekly
280 Kane St., S. Williamsport, PA 17702

The coloring page and details are on pages 18 and 19.
Speaking of Santa…

Every year around this time I share a Facebook post that I stumbled upon a couple of years ago that says, “Just a reminder to all the parents out there to be modest with your gifts from ‘Santa’. Not all parents have a ton of cash to spend on making their kids’ Christmas special, so it doesn’t make sense to have Santa give your kid a PlayStation5, a bike, and an iPad, while his best friend at school gets a new hat and mittens from Santa. Give them something small from Santa and make the more expensive presents from you. You can explain the value of money to kids, but you can’t explain Santa’s discrimination to a heartbroken kid.”

Say it louder for the people in the back. “You can explain the value of money to kids, but you can’t explain Santa’s discrimination to a heartbroken kid.”

I think this is a really important thing to share and the parents on my friends list have been 100% supportive of the idea. There have been several over the years that were already doing this and several other who said that they were going to start.

Listen, if you are willing and able to give your child a new Xbox, a Tesla, and a summer vacation in Italy for Christmas, by all means do so! (and maybe consider letting me tag along to Italy) However, make sure they understand those gifts are from you. Let Santa bring new PJs or books. Don’t let some other child think that Santa loves them less, or worse yet, that they were somehow ‘bad’ and less deserving than little Joey up the street. Being a kid in today’s world is hard enough without adding to it.