After last week's column about my lack of Christmas spirit, I received an e-mail from the National Christmas Center along Route 30 near Paradise. Signed by Santa Jr., it said my column had saddened him. Terrific. Not only was I not in the holiday mood, but now I had depressed Santa Claus!......

Tiffiani Butler is a busy mom whose work as a bartender requires that she keeps a close eye on everything that is happening before her, so that nothing gets past her. So when she recently took her 6-year-old daughter, Aryana, to see Santa Claus at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, sh......

Ryan Bledsoe ran up and threw her arms around Santa Claus for a good, long hug. Then she got shy. She didn't want to sit on his lap, or even beside him — not at first. Santa waited patiently, saying nothing. Nearby, Ryan's parents held their breath, not sure what to exp......

Santa Claus is a temporal trickster. Think about it. He travels the world Christmas Eve, visits innumerable homes, slides down chimneys, stuffs stockings, eats cookies, drinks milk, cleans up after reindeer and keeps those elves in line, all while piling presents beneath countless Christmas ......

He's short and stout with a beard of white, all dressed in red and dozing by the fireplace after delivering his gifts. The Santa Claus at Wilbur Chocolate's Candy Americana Museum and Store looks as real as any other — a living, breathing St. Nick. Except he's not really alive and he's......

We asked our readers to share their "failed" Santa pictures and they didn't fail us. Enjoy this comical collection of holiday snapshots that, at the time, may have been disappointing. Now, perhaps, these pictures more likely remain family treasures. (To be sure, they've put quite a few smile......

Hope you are enjoying Thanksgiving. Is the smell of turkey wafting through the house yet? Ahhh ... But hey, Friday awaits. You know what Friday is, right? Black Friday, when shoppers go insane, getting up at 3 in the morning and fighting for bargains. But in Lancas......

The Christmas tree in Penn Square is decorated. Workers were out taking care of that on Monday, a prelude to the kickoff of the holiday season in downtown Lancaster. That celebration will begin Friday night, with the Mayor's Tree Lighting and Tuba Christmas. The evening wi......

Remember the movie "Miracle on 34th Street," where the real Santa worked at Macy's? He had to go to court to prove he was the real Santa and he won his case, didn't he? It's pretty safe to say the real Santa is not working at the Macy's in "SantaLand Diaries." In fact, all......

Lancaster resident Thom Miller said that most people measure the trees in their yards by height, but his wife, Karen, measures their trees by how many strands of Christmas lights they need. "Putting the Griswolds' house to shame, one light at a time," is how the Millers' son, Ryan, described......

Santa Claus, or perhaps more accurately, his helper and lookalike Dan Knarr, traded in a reindeer-powered sleigh for a sports car Saturday as he made his way to several local holiday appearances via Corvette. Stops included a Christmas breakfast at Lancaster First Ward of Church of Jesus Christ o......

Tom Reese loves Christmas. He loves history. And he loves Lancaster. Oh yeah, he loves his family too. All of those loves will be a part of "The Season Through the Ages," being performed by the Susquehanna Trio Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Stahr Center.......

Santa's on Board ... starts Friday Children aboard the Strasburg Rail Road this weekend really will be taking "the road to Paradise," since Santa Claus will be riding the train beginning tomorrow. The holidays officially begin at Strasburg on Black Friday, as Santa's Paradise Express pull......

Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at Lancaster Public Library, 125 N. Duke St. ......

It may only be early November, but Andrea McCormick, the artistic director of the American Music Theatre, is in the Christmas spirit. "I've been in the Christmas spirit since this summer," she says with a laugh. McCormick, along with Carl Rajotte, has been conceiving, directing an......

You might not be expecting him, what with this being the middle of a very hot summer, but Santa Claus is coming to town.It will be Christmas in July when the Midsummer Yule Festival is held Saturday at the National Christmas Center on Lincoln Highway East.The event will include a Ch......

NORTH POLE — Let's look in on Santa Claus as he prepares to break international law by flying all around the world in one night without going through security checkpoints.Getting here to the North Pole was no easy feat. With the down economy, I had to search the Internet for the ......

Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....

A microscope. A new puppy. A mother. And absolutely, positively NO CLOTHES.From the humorous to the heart-wrenching, children's wish lists to Santa reveal that children aren't as toy-centric as parents think — and that they're not as polite as perhaps they should be....

This is a column about a time coming to an end, even though I wish could last forever.My oldest child, 8-year-old Wyatt, still believes in Santa Claus and flying reindeer and the North Pole and coming down the chimney and everything magical about the Christmas season.His sisters, 5-......

Hauling people in horse-drawn wagons through his private forest to personally select their own Christmas trees as in bygone days was good enough for Elizabeth Farms owner Bill Coleman — until he met Santa Claus.Santa Claus, alias Jim Morrison, co-owner of the National Christmas Cente......

Watch an accomplished skater complete a graceful triple axel on the ice this weekend, and you'd be forgiven for thinking the ice park at Clipper Magazine Stadium was an equally effortless undertaking. Tell that to Don Pryer, who on Tuesday spent a few hours spray-painting the ice. P......

Santa Claus is coming to town.What town, you ask? Name one.Every city and town in America probably has its own Santa Claus. In fact, if you took all the Santas in the country and stacked them up along the U.S./Mexico border, they'd form a wall that illegal immigrants could never......

Firefighter Ken Barton took his first steps Tuesday since falling 12 feet from a ladder truck during downtown Lancaster's Christmas tree lighting."It was a lot of pain, but it actually felt good to get up and go," the Lancaster city firefighter said during an interview from h......

Santa has a Christmas wish of his own this year: He hopes children and their parents will observe good health etiquette when they visit him. After all, if there is something no one — including Santa — wants for Christmas, it's the flu. More than 60 percent of Santas are ......

The holidays are a time for tradition.A Christmas tradition for downtown Lancaster was revived Friday when Santa Claus returned to the roof of the former Watt & Shand department store for the first time in 14 years.Between 3,000 and 4,000 people watched as Santa appeared above t......

Now that Thanksgiving is here, the turkey and the sweet potatoes are about to become leftovers, and you're going to need to get out for a little exercise, it's time to ... start celebrating all over again! No rest for the holiday weary. Downtown Lancaster for the Holidays begins Frid......

So, it's time to ask the Christmas Spirit question. You know: It's only the second week in November, are you there yet or are you still bah-humbugging? Over at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, the holidays have definitely arrived with "Holly Jolly Christmas," a musical ......

Many Lancastrians yearn for Christmases past, when Santa made his annual arrival by climbing a ladder to get into the Watt & Shand department store on Penn Square. Their nostalgic wish will come true Nov. 27, when the jolly fellow returns to the roof of what is now the Lancaster County C......

Grover Gouker died in May, but Santa Claus lives on.Picking up on the Manheim Township man's 60-year tradition of answering kids' letters to Santa Claus will be his legion of elves, otherwise known as students from the Hempfield High School gifted program, under the guidance of tea......

Police on Thursday charged a former Lititz mayoral candidate with 22 counts of possession of child pornography, six counts of unlawful contact with minors and six counts of corruption of minors. Gregory J. Nies, 53, of Lititz — who also played Santa Claus at Lititz Springs Park — po......

I'm glad my daughter isn't a child anymore, for how would I tell Sarah that Santa Claus has died.I'm not talking about the jolly old elf at the North Pole with the flying reindeer, the guy who leaves gifts under our Christmas trees and gobbled down milk and cookies until the he......

Manheim Township resident Grover C. Gouker Jr., who personally answered the letters sent to Santa Claus by tens of thousands of children worldwide, died Saturday at his home. He was 86.For the past 59 years, Gouker, who was honored as the "Official Corresponding Santa Claus," ans......

Nearly 80 families from Duke Manor Apartments filled up on scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes Christmas Eve morning while waiting for a much-anticipated visit from Santa Claus.And, boy, did he deliver.Children who live in the 716 Rockland St. apartment complex were treated not onl......

Akron Pastor Matthew Lenahan notices how "we live in a time when people don't know their neighbors any more." There also aren't as many front porches where people can gather to socialize, and it's also a time closets and food pantries in many homes are stocked with surp......

She sweetened his downtown digs•••If you had to create a house for Santa Claus, what would it look like?Would it look like a ski lodge or an oversized igloo for life at the North Pole?Rachel Garman envisioned something a l......

Amid the growing festiveness of the holiday season, more than 60 people took time out Sunday to reflect on the grief they have experienced this past year.It was Highland Presbyterian Church's second annual Service of Hope and Healing, a time for those who suffered a loss during 2008 to......

When Santa Claus first started riding the rails at Strasburg Rail Road a half century ago, Strasburg's station was hardly bigger than a phone booth and the engine pulling the passenger cars was powered by diesel, not the trademark steam the railroad is known for today. Back in those earl......

A temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death early Friday in a stampede of shoppers in New York, while two people were shot and killed during an argument in a Toys "R" Us store in California.The Christmas 2008 shopping season officially has begun, and evidently the Grinche......

Forget the housing crisis, folks. Santa Claus just built a new place — think colonial gingerbread — in a prime location inside Binns Park. Santa's new house (actually built by Gallagher Construction and decorated by Atomic Design), is where he'll be hanging out, talking t......

Santa Claus is getting fancy new digs for his Lancaster stops this year.The Mayor's Office of Special Events announced the Big Man will come to downtown Lancaster and set up residence in Binns Park on Black Friday, Nov. 28.MOOSE spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said that in previous y......

For 58 years, Grover C. Gouker, posing as Santa Claus, has answered Christmas letters from children across the nation and overseas. Now the 85-year-old man who may well be America's unofficial Santa is sharing some of his more than 100,000 Christmas letters in a new book titled "My San......

Yes, she shaved her eyebrows — her eyebrows! — and then glued tiny white hairs one by one in their place, so her brows would look snowy white. She made her own velvety red suit and kept a careful record of the thousands of children who sat on her knee (one season alone it was pre......

The Christmas tree lights and the tinsel still glittered. Tony Bennett's version of "My Favorite Things" echoed through the hallways. And a few people wore floppy red Santa hats.Yes, Virginia, there's still shopping to do after Santa Claus delivers the loot.Wednesd......

Scott Dierwechter would love to be awakened Christmas morning by his two boys, Aiden, 3, and Gabriel, 4, before they excitedly run downstairs to see what presents Santa Claus brought them. He'd love to linger over breakfast with his wife, Kerry, and spend all day watching his boys play w......

Last week, parents came by the thousands to a clubhouse of the Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster, and found some Christmas magic there. In an atmosphere that was less frantic than any ordinary toy store's, and perhaps even more festive, parents were able to choose from an impressive array ......

S. Arthur Shoemaker carved Jesus Christ as a happy fellow. "I think I took him from 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' " Shoemaker said. "His clothes are blowing, he has a nice smile and his hands are outstretched." And he has red, round cheeks like Santa Claus. The......

The spirit of Christmases long past will be present at Wheatland this holiday season, as Santa Claus — Civil War style — takes up residence for the annual Christmas Candlelight Tours. Portrayed by Civil War re-enactor Walter Bosch, Santa looks like a cross between Father Christmas a......

Christmases past always have a rosy glow. We think of a simpler time when families were happy and everyone understood the true meaning of Christmas. It's easy to forget that Christmas was sometimes celebrated during bleak times in our history, when happiness was in short supply. Cer......

Santa lost his head last week in Manheim Township. Somebody sliced off the jolly old elf's noggin, cutting it from an inflatable decoration in Lyle Ide's front yard and disappearing with it. "I don't quite understand what to think of it," said Ide, who lives off Or......

Who is this bearded, jolly man toting a bagful of toys in place of his usual .44-caliber Remington sidearm? It's Walter Bosch, that's who. "I'm Civil War Santa," the retired Lancaster resident matter-of-factly tells people taken aback by his getup. His breed is r......

Santa's Paradise Express is about to pull out of the station.The popular holiday train ride features Christmas carolers, brass horns and a personal visit with Santa during its 45-minute journey through the Amish countryside.Festivities will begin as soon as the visitor reaches t......

There's another man in Barb Heinaman's life. She showers with him every day. He dutifully holds her hairspray, napkins, candy, coins, drinks, salt and pepper. She steps on him, rests a spoon on him, cuddles with him and could darn a sock on his head, if she wanted. She's h......

Traditional celebrations meet modern-day flair as downtown Lancaster holds what may be its most exciting holiday season ever.From strolling musicians and horse-drawn carriage rides to movies and karaoke, the family-oriented activities are designed with one thing in mind — bringing pe......

Main Street Mount Joy will host the borough's ninth-annual Winterfest on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m., followed by a special concert on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Donegal High School Auditorium. Winterfest — featuring food, music, shopping and a variety of fun activities for all ages &mdash......

Christmas caroling and classical music, a tree lighting, refreshments and even an appearance for the little ones by Mr. and Mrs. Claus — according to Paradise Township Supervisor Dennis Groff, the township's annual holiday tree lighting ceremony/party promises "a little something for everyo......

Brian Belge has made a career out of being redeemed every Christmas, à la Ebenezer Scrooge."It's definitely a role I've been playing for several years now," Belge said. "And it's different every time I play it."But this year, he's the man b......

If you know who Buffy, Jody, Sissy, Uncle Bill and Mr. French are, the new lunch box exhibit at the Lancaster Museum of Art is right up your alley. So when you take your annual trek to Trees Galore! and shop in the expanded Holiday store on the first floor of the museum, make sure to go up......

He is the world’s best disciplinarian. In my house, I only have to mention his name to get my children to stop arguing, kicking, poking or generally annoying each other. I figure since the retail industry starts promoting Christmas in mid-October, I can do the same in my house. Before Hallowee......

"Nice celebrations, Mr. Editor,'' my jogging friend said the other day, sipping his coffee.

Get some running in?

"As usual, did the Pagoda thing in Reading. It's tough going up, but even worse coming down because you jar your legs on the steep inclines.

"Can still feel it. But y...

“Well, thank you, Mr. Editor, and the same to you,’’ my jogging friend said the other morning, sipping his coffee. Did you get caught up in the ‘Happy Holidays,’ and ‘Merry Christmas’ thing, Clyde?


“No, not really. I think it’s the thought behind the greeting that counts. If someone’s ......

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