| Summary: | Concordia student turns Santa Pladspn considers it 'fun job' by Jodee Schermerhorn Have you told Santa what you want for Christmas? Well, there is no longer any need to go to the North Pole to find Santa Claus and his elves. Santa and two of his elves happen to be here at Concordia. Jim Pladson is Concordia's Santa and Nancy Hanson and Beth Hamilton are his helpers. lim. Nancy and Beth all work at West Acres. Day after day they listen to the Christmas requests of little children and sometimes the big kids too! "It is really a fun job and I enjoy it/' said Jim Pladson. He likes working with children so this job is just perfect for him. Summer camps have given Jim his previous experience working with kids and someday he hopes to have his own camp. ]im said he feels kids are pretty open and honesj and possibly more so than we used to be. Most of thechildrenaren't afraid of Santa. Some of them are shy and at times the beard and long hair scares them. Before they go up on Santa's lap they have lots of courage but they often lose'it when it is their turn. Occasior/ally they get so excited that they wet on Santa's lap. Nancy and Beth, Santa's helpers, are there to stop the kids from mobbing Santa. They talk to the kids and keep them busy while they are waiting in line. They help younger children onto Santa's lap and get them to smile while they get theirpicture taken. Both of the girls said that it is really a tun jot> to have. "One boy said he had 27 things that he wanted for Christmas but he didn't have a list with him," said Nancy. This doesn't happen very often though. Most of the girls want dolls, such as Baby Alive and^some girls want firetrucks. A battery operated CB is a big hit with the boys along with bionic men dolls. Beth almost ruined the image of Santa for a number of children. One afternoon her ring got caught in Santa's beard and she pulled it off. She quickly sat on Santa's lap and held his beard on. They then decided it was time for a break so they went and repaired Santa. Jim and Beth got the idea to apply from an ad in The Concordian. It has turned out to be a great way for them to make a few extra dollars before Christmas. They are all expecting a busy Christmas Eve this year so be sure and have cookies and milk for them. We don't want Santa and his helpers to go away hungry. Nancy Hanson and Jim Pladson, caught during break at West Acres. Would you let your daughter sit on his lap? Norsk Christmas explained by student by Kellian Clink Church is an important part of the Norwegian Christmas <-^IP-bration acco/ding to Mia Tonn-essen, a Norwegian sophomore attending Concordia. On Christ-mas Eve at 5 p.m., most Norwegians attend church ser-vices where the story of the first Christmas is told. Afterwards, the church bells chime for an hour as the congregation returns home, to feast, sing carols, and open presents. Torsk and lutefisk are favorite holiday dishes; these are deli-cious, if somewhat highly smell-ing fish. Another favorite in Norway is rice pudding. This is prepared with one almond. The person who receives this al-mond is granted one wish, which he must not tell. Another superstition concern-ing food is the use of at least seven different types of cookies. Christmas isn't Christmas unless there are seven types of cookies. Some of these are sirupkake, krumkake, fattigman, goro, ser-enakake, jinglekake, and pep-perkake, alt of which are really good, according to Mia. Norwegians are now going back to some of the old ways of decorating their Christmas trees. More and more candles are being used instead of electric lights. Little colored baskets filled with goodies, ball orna-ments, and paper chains also adorn their trees. Since the Norwegians like to sing and dance around their tree, it is usually placed in the middle of the room. Stories are told around the 'tree also. One favorite is called the "Putti plutti plot." It revol-ves around the magjc in Santa Claus' beard, This magic allows him to travel around the world delivering toys, games, and dolls to all the good children. One year, however, his mis-chievous son stole the beard and did some traveling of his own. He met some children in a city and this was where Santa found him. Fortunately for all, the beard is found in time so Santa can deliver the gifts. t This Santa is the most popu-lar, but the original Norwegian Santa was a spirit who stayed in the cow shed and guarded the cows and horses. At Christmas, the children would leave him a plate of rice pudding and find it empty in the morning. On Christmas day, the child-ren of Norway go trick-or-treat-ing dressed as little Santas and other Christmas characters. The Norwegians get together with all of their family on Christmas day to catch up on family news, sing, feast, and dance around the tree. Mia lives in Oslo, Norway. She is going home for Christ-mas but will return for second semester classes at Concordia. She says,. "Caroling," Christmas shopping, baking, smelling Christmas trees and snow get her into the Christmas spirit." MERRY CHRISTMAS from YOUR COBBER BOOKSTORE See us for your last minute gifts Concordia Choir Records Christmas Cards, Stationary Gifts Jewelry Swimrobes Posters Books Sweaters PERFIDIA ArtCarved Wedding Rings are joyful expressions of your Christmas marriage. They're handcrafted from 14-karat gold in a variety of styles. Arranged in fashion collections. DOWNTOWN FARCO 232-2008 VAL1EY NORTH 293-9177 DECEMBER 10, 7976 THE CONCORDIAN PACE 3
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