Dear Santa,
Let me start out by saying we have been so very good this year (No laughing!). It has been a year of change, but we’ve weathered worse storms.
You remember those couple or tornadoes that blew through here and wreaked chaos and what about that snow that piled up the first weekend in December last year?
The biggest snow in the Pine Belt since the late 1800s, really?
Do you have some type of connection with Mother Nature?
Santa, in this week’s paper we’re bringing you the annual assortment of letters from school children in Hattiesburg, Petal and Lamar counties, as part of our Christmas duties. And this year we tried something different. We gave teachers the option of sending in these sweet letters via email. Some of the second graders even typed his or her own letter, which was most definitely an eye opener for some teachers, who in addition to realizing they need to work on their typing, also got a good look at spelling.
Several of us typed the letters. It was fun to listen to the chuckles from different offices as they were typed. And on more than one occasion, we had to stop, walk into another office and share a letter.
Santa, it appears that a lot of the things kids asked for last year and the year before and the year before that are still pretty popular today. Yes, we were surprised as we read through letters. Really, hoverboards are still a thing? And you’re still doling them out?
And it sure seems that a lot of kids wants real animals – puppies, kittens, horses, gerbils, guinea pigs and the like. Please make sure you deliver those to the correct houses. There are a lot of others out there that don’t want to have to deal with those on a daily basis. And one child has a pretty specific request – the puppy she wants needs to be hypo-allergenic, as her mother is allergic, and it needs to be really cute…..really really cute.
And Santa, some of us aren’t as young as others and have absolutely no idea what the gifts some of these children are talking about. Please make sure they receive the appropriate gifts. And while many of these children ask for video-type equipment, games and things that will turn them into couch potatoes, please also throw something their way that will get them outside playing – basketball goal, , bats and balls, bicycles, pogo stick – remind them to not try and pogo down the front concrete/brick steps. The word impale comes to mind.
Those of us here in the office have our own set of Christmas wishes. You know our wants and needs. We would like for our 11x17 printer, which has a mind of its own, and doesn’t like many of us, to try and be a little more forgiving in the new year. It’s really an integral part of our weekly proofing process and we need it on a weekly basis.
We’re not too fond of trying to proof these pages on 8.5 x 11 paper.
We have been very good, quite funny at times, had a good time, and continuously work for the betterment of our community. We love being a part of the local Greater Hattiesburg scene. Please remember everybody, even those who have been kind of bad. Yes, we realize there are some people who are eternally hopeless, but they need loving, too.
If you have any contacts with Mother Nature, we don’t expect snow, but could she at least give us weather befitting of the holiday. Yes, we know that there will still be those wearing their shorts, tank tops and Chacos. Bless them.
Cookies and milk will be waiting for you and carrots for that reindeer crew of yours.
Thanks Santa, you’re the best.
Love, Beth
Beth Bunch is the managing editor of The PineBelt NEWS.
