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MAKING SURE SANTA DELIVERS : POSTAL WORKER ANSWERS NEEDY KIDS' LETTERS.


Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
  • Dennis McCarthy (composer), (born 1945), an American composer
  • Dennis McCarthy (congressman), (19th century) Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1885
  • Dennis McCarthy MBE (radio presenter), British radio presenter
 

It was one of those magical scenes you see in holiday movies like ``Miracle on 34th Street'' or ``It's it's  

1. Contraction of it is.

2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its.


it's it is or it has
it's be ~have
 a Wonderful Life.'' The kind of scene that makes you swallow swallow, common name for small perching birds of almost worldwide distribution. There are about 100 species of swallows, including the martins, which belong to the same family. Swallows have long, narrow wings, forked tails, and weak feet.  hard and wish that was you up there on the screen.

Only this was no movie. This was as real and magical as life gets.

It was Christmas Christmas [Christ's Mass], in the Christian calendar, feast of the nativity of Jesus, celebrated in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches on Dec. 25. In liturgical importance it ranks after Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany (Jan. 6).  Eve 1995, and Staci Crane was making a little side trip after getting off work at the Valencia annex an·nex  
tr.v. an·nexed, an·nex·ing, an·nex·es
1. To append or attach, especially to a larger or more significant thing.

2.
 post office before heading home to her family.

Staci is West Coast rep for Santa Claus Santa Claus: see Nicholas, Saint.

Santa Claus

jolly, gift-giving figure who visits children on Christmas Eve. [Christian Tradition: NCE, 1937]

See : Christmas


Santa Claus
 at this time of year - the woman inside the U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs.  who fields all the letters from kids who write to the North Pole North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90°N. It is distinguished from the north magnetic pole. U.S. explorer Robert E. Peary is traditionally credited as being the first to reach (1909) the North Pole. In 1926, Richard E.  with their wish lists.

Some of the letters are funny and touching, some of them tear your heart out.

It's her job to read them all and make many of these wishes come true. Staci Crane's very good at her job.

Last year, she made Christmas morning magical for more than 5,000 kids by matching their letters with volunteers who bought and delivered presents to them in Santa's name - presents that their parents or guardians could not afford, even down to a new pair of shoes.

These are the children Staci Crane makes sure get put right at the top of Santa's delivery list.

And so it was last Christmas Eve as it has been for the past eight years since she got the job - Santa's West Coast rep pulled out of the post office parking lot feeling pretty good about life.

She knew that in the morning, 5,000 kids who took the time to write Santa were going to wake up and find their wish come true.

Staci looked down at the letter on the car seat next to her, and turned south, heading for the hospital. There was one more present from Santa to be delivered, and this one she would deliver personally.

The letter had been written by some kids who attend a school for Down syndrome Down syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by mild to severe mental retardation, slow physical development, and characteristic physical features. Down syndrome affects about 1 in every 730 live births and occurs in all populations equally.  children in Reseda. They were asking Santa for a little tyke's playhouse for the schoolyard.

Their teacher was going to get one for them, but she was in the hospital now, the kids said. She was pregnant and the doctor had told her that unless she remained in bed for the next few months, the baby inside her wouldn't be all right.

So the kids wanted to know if Santa could maybe give them their playhouse because it was going to be awhile a·while  
adv.
For a short time.

Usage Note: Awhile, an adverb, is never preceded by a preposition such as for, but the two-word form a while may be preceded by a preposition.
 before their teacher came back to school.

Staci gave the letter to a few local couples who got together and bought the school three playhouses, which were going to be there waiting for the children when they returned to school after the holidays.

Santa's West Coast rep had done her job, but her thoughts kept going back to the teacher of these Down syndrome children, this woman lying in a hospital bed Christmas Eve with a baby inside her that wasn't due for two more months.

The teacher hadn't written Santa a letter, but the way Staci Crane saw it, this was a woman who deserved a present from her boss, just like her students had gotten theirs.

So here she was, walking down the near empty hallways of a maternity ward maternity ward
n.
The department of a hospital that provides care for women during pregnancy and childbirth as well as for newborn infants.
 Christmas Eve, carrying a present filled with baby clothes for a woman she had never met or seen before.

The teacher was lying in bed, talking on the phone when Staci knocked on her door.

``I have a delivery for you,'' Santa's West Coast rep said.

The teacher smiled and spoke excitedly into the phone, thanking the person on the other end for the present. It had just arrived, she said.

Then the smile faded, and a look of curiosity crossed the teacher's face as she realized the present wasn't from the person on the other end of the line.

``Who's it from?'' the teacher asked Staci.

``Santa Claus,'' she answered.

``No, really, who's it from?'' the teacher asked again, opening the box, and finding it filled with baby clothes.

``Santa Claus,'' Staci said, again. ``He found out you take care of special kids, and that you are carrying someone special. He wanted you to have these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video
The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing
1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17
2.
 for Christmas.''

The teacher looked up from the bed at Staci, trying to figure out who this woman was.

``Aren't you going to tell me who this is really from?'' she asked, as Staci turned to leave.

``I just did,'' Santa's West Coast rep said, walking out of the room and down the hallway, feeling magical and wonderful inside.

She never looked back, Staci says - never saw or heard from the teacher because she would have no way of finding her.

The only lead she had was Santa Claus, and really, isn't that the way it should be?

And now, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a  to begin thinking about making this Christmas more magical again for more kids. The letters to Santa are beginning to stack up on her desk, and Staci Crane needs us to make some dreams come true.

If you want to be Santa Claus to a kid writing her boss this Christmas, give Staci a call at (805) 294-6981, and she'll give you a letter.

Some of them will make you laugh. Others will tear your heart out.
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Dec 10, 1996
Words:896
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