Santa Claus Extremism!

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How's this for getting carried away, Richard!  The extent "we" go in
propagating  folk-lore is bewildering.  [Note: This is an actual news item
from Air Force News Service, 7 Dec 95.]


1354.  NORAD to track Santa Claus
     COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AFNS) -- For 39 years,
the North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) and its predecessors have conducted an annual
Christmas Eve watch for Santa Claus as he delivered gifts
to the children of North America and the world.
     This year will be no exception, and for the 40th year in a
row, this important mission will be carried out by American
and Canadian personnel.
     The children of Canada and the United States of
America will once again be able to get progress reports
telling them of Santa's flight path from the North Pole to
their countries.  Using ground-based radars and satellites in
space, the men and women of NORAD, and the military
services that provide support to NORAD, will
electronically scan the skies of northern Canada and Alaska
to detect Santa when he takes off from his North Pole
workshop.  When he is detected, the data will be passed to
the combined NORAD/U.S. Space Command operations
center in Cheyenne Mountain, near Colorado Springs.
     To receive reports on Santa's progress on Christmas
Eve, children can call the following number starting at 4
p.m. in each applicable time zone:  (719) 474-1110.
     The tradition of tracking Santa Claus started in 1955
with continental Air Defense Command, headquartered in
Colorado Springs.  A misprint in a local store's newspaper
advertisement resulted in children calling in to the
commander in chief's "Hot Line."  The line was flooded
with calls so the director of operations, Col. Harry Shoup,
decided to respond to the children's queries.  The staff
jumped in and handled all the calls as they came in.  The
duty crew drew a picture of Santa and his reindeer-drawn
sleigh on its display of North America, and a tradition was
born.
     The calls are answered by volunteers who work in
various work centers in Cheyenne Mountain and NORAD
headquarters.  These civilian and military people answer all
calls with a personalized report, thus adding a human
dimension to the program.