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Show Thursday, December 26, 1974 PLEASANT GROVE REVIEW, PLEASANT GROVE, UTAH Thursday, December 26, T974 Letters to 'Santa9 Overflow Mailbox The Most Famous Resident in the town of Santa Claus, Indiana, population 300, is Santa Clans himself who re-ceives well over 100,000 letters annually from children across the country and around the world. As Santa Claus in costume and Jim Yellig out of it, a career has been devoted to making sure letters are answered. There's something special about Santa Claus in a small southern Indiana town where the famous Christmas legend has be-come somewhat of an every-day reality. This town with a popula-tion of about 300 year-roun- d residents, and a family of deer, is the jolly old gent's namesake home Santa Claus, Indiana as well as the home of his helpers, and the location of his overflow-ing mailbox. A unique landmark at Santa Claus is the U.S. Post Office near the intersection of Indiana highways 162 and 245, and next to the entrance to Santa Claus Land. There is nowhere in the world where you can find a post office like this one. Its architecture is that of a stone-fronte- d fairyland castle in design and while the community has but slightly more than 300 year-rou-residents this post office each year is flooded with about four million pieces of mail. The bulk of all this mail comes around Christmas time to receive the cherished Santa Claus postmark. Still others arrive addressed simply to "Santa Claus, 47579." Letters addressed to "Santa Claus" represent the tens of thousands of chil-dren's "want lists" that foretell visions of Christ-mas morning, promise cook-ies and milk, and extend best wishes to Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Rudolph. And, to the delight of children everywhere, all of these let-ters receive an answer from Santa Claus. This unique practice dates back to the late 1920s when Robert L. Ripley popularized the town by featuring it in an article in his "Believe It Or Not" column. After the article appeared, mail began to mushroom, especially letters addressed to "Santa Claus." Tourists with children al-so started to arrive and make visits to the post office with their Christmas mail, following in the steps of Ripley who also sent his Christmas cards through the office here as proof that there was indeed a Santa Claus as verified by the postmark. For over 40 years, children have met Santa himself, played by Raymond Joseph "Jim" Yellig. Besides taking up the role of Santa Claus at the Santa Claus Post Office in the ear-ly 1930s, Yellig also em-barked on a project that now involves much of the community of the Santa Claus, Ind. area. He noticed that the incoming letters were being stored away be-cause there were too many for the postmaster of the day to answer and took pan in hand, along with his wife, to make sure children who cared enough about Santa Claus were answered. Many Faiths Converge On Modern Bethlehem, Observe Christ's Birth : v. ; " o i J . V , I f jJ V ... J 1 t ; It is customary in the United States to celebrate the birth of Jesus on De-cember 25th, the date ob-served by the Roman Cath-olic Church and most Prot-estant denominations, but not all Christian faiths ad-here to that date. In Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace, the Roman cele-bration begins on Christmas Eve, December 24lh, high-lighted by the traditional Midnight Mass, and contin-ues on Christmas Day. The Greek Orthodox Church, however, observes January 7 as Christmas Day, mark-ing the occasion witli sim-ilar ceremonies. January 18th and 19th are the dates for the observance in the Armenian Church. The three faiths have their own churches and chapels within the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and each observes Christ-mas on its own day with services in the Grotto of the Nativity at the exact spot where, it is believed, Jesus was born. The separate observances are bolstered by a long his-tory which ecumenism may find it difficult to erase. For centuries the Churches dis-puted possession of the sanctuary, originally built by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 330, and pre-cedence in worshipping there. The Greek Catholics took possession of the build-ing in 1672. The Roman Catholics have shared it since the mid-19t- h century with the Greeks. Armenians have their own chapel and monastery in this city of about 25,000 population. Since the different ob-servances all involve num-bers of celebrants, proces-sions, traffic control, and other civic problems, the authorities of Bethlehem and the surrounding area would be just as happy if Christmas were celebrated universally on one day, but it is unlikely that such unanimity will be achieved soon in the face of the in the face of the Churches' different tradtions. MoDKHN Bktmi.KIIKM, viewed from one of the higher bell towers in the citv, retains manv of its age-ol- d cus-toms and looks much the way it did during ancient times, despite modern vehicles which move through timeless streets. Photo courtesy Israeli Government Tourist Office. Italian Foods at Christmas Vary According to Regions Feasting is an integral part of the Christmas celebra-tion, .symbolizing not only rejoicing at the coming of Christ but, al.so, the spirit of sharing and brotherly love which is characteristic of the season. Like so many other aspects of Christmas, it is a blend of Christian and traditions, strongly influenced by local customs. In Italy the dishes of the Christmas feast vary widely depending on the region. In the north, for example, the meal may begin witn cappelletti ("little hats") stuffed with meat or tortellini, a sort of ravioli, followed by a main dish of meat, which may be anything from roast turkey with chestnut stuffing to zampone, a pork sausage packed in a pig's leg smothered with lentils. In the area around Rome, the traditional dish of Christ-mas Eve is "capitone," a large female eel, roasted, baked, or fried, following a religious tradition which prescribes a meatless dinner on Christmas Eve, the Vigilia, or Christ-mas vigil. In accordance with this tradition, the Roman fish market, held the night of December 23rd, is a peculiar feature of the Christmas observance. In the south of Italy, the feasting usually begins with macaroni with meat and tomato sauce, followed by chicken or meat in jelly. Particularly characteristic of Christmas feasting in all regions are sweets: fruitcakes of various types (panettone) and other sweets in which nuts and honey figure promi-nently. The Christmas season coincides with the lengthening day and the beginning of the New Year, and from ancient times nuts have been a symbol of fertility and a promise of the next year's harvest, also representing hope for in-crease in herds and flocks, and the family, as well. The use of honey, the most common sweetener in ancient Rome, was a traditional way of conveying the wish that the new year might be as sweet as the gift. S o 5 : I t n iv v4 IV g 1 Clkii'iisttiimisas duEoseitiiiins S It, 8 2 It's all around that Christmas feeling! May it fill 8 your holiday with warmth, joy and loving thoughts. We hope you g enjoy this time to the fullest. Thanks, friends. g I Steve Johnson SteVe'S FOOtl Mtirt Americon Fork, Utah !M UVMM 1 father 'round the tree for song . . . laughter. g Rekindle friendships . . . extend good tidings to all. jj To our loyal patrons greetings and thanks. Priday's Office Supply I S American Fork, Utah 2 2 g & jjf fe Rejoice! It's Christmas. During this ' ! 2 """I holiday of heart warming thoughts we wish you peace 1 $ ' X and happiness. Thanks for your support. ; " ' I f$Sw I '! 1 1 gpH: H3i'" j., Vi I I CEiipmanSquose American Fork, Utah 3 2 ! merry Christmas ! 2 g g 'Tis the season to trim iy . So what more could we S g trees, sing carols, wish for you, than a give gifts . . . and warm M enjoy all the j& ; Christmas? Thanks g I holiday cheer. Jp for your support. I I I STORY PHARMACY I How to Re-Us- e Gift Boxes, Cans Don't be too quick to throw out those good boxes or cartons that hold your family's Christmas gifts you can make them into handsome containers for everything from hair roll-ers to sewing materials, not forgetting the canisters and cookie tins you can make out of those plastic-lidde- d coffee cans! Cover your boxes and cof-fee cans with plastic, decorate them with braid or tape, and label them with cut-o- ut letters. It's easy to do with self stick plastic just make sure surface of box or tin is clean and dry. Then cut your plastic to fit, allowing for an overlap at seams or edges, and press it down smoothly. Or you can use fabric or gift paper, which you'll have to glue on. It's a great way to "re-cycle" your boxes and cans and you'll have attractive containers for all sorts of things, in kitchen, bath-room, or at desk or phone. You can make a pretty pencil jug out of a juice can . . . and never again have to say, "Wait till I find a pen-cil," while you're talking on the phone! h |