The weekly news update featuring First St. PatricksDay Parade
To all North Pole City Elves, those in Santa's Village, in the Lower 48 and all around the world, this is your weekly update for the week of March 13, 2023. I'm your host Walter "Mistletoe" Livingstone and I'm your co-host, Becky "Marshmallow" Livingstone, Let's go to press.
For the week of March 13, 2023 your sponsor will be Crystal's Candy Confections at 2 Candy Cane Lane, specializing in chocolate creations that are out of this world. This week they are featuring their chocolate caramels. Stop by for a treat today.
Latimer Snerd, supervisor of Santa's Workshop has sent out a memo to the gift wrapping division tripling this week's standard order for red and white striped wrapping paper. The new toys rolling off the assembly line are requiring a bit more wrapping than what was originally anticipated; therefore production over at the gift wrapping factory will have to ramp up a little bit more to keep up with the demand. Please check this week's Peppermint Post Job Postings for additional staff members being needed at the wrapping paper factory.
Although Lucky the Leprechaun will not be arriving until Saturday the 18th up at North Pole City, Edward Hinklemyer has received a request and is organizing the security team to have a St. Patrick's Day parade scheduled that will be timed with the the arrival of "Lucky" and the march of the North Pole Snowball Games contestants to the auditorium in city center for the finals.
The parade will begin at the NPC Commerce Association building, come down towards city center, around the town circle in Santa's village and end at the auditorium. The parade will begin about 10 a.m. Saturday morning. All are encouraged to come out and cheer on the teams, then follow the parade down to the auditorium. Participating in the parade will be Lucky the Leprechaun, Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Snowball Games finalists (The Cocoa House and Noel's Cozy Corner) and it will be lead of course by Frosty the Snowman.
The WWW/PR department urges you to send them your questions. Do you have a question for someone at the North Pole? Ask them on the 14th for the for National Ask a Question Day. They will add your questions and the answers from NPC to the website. Any question can be asked through the "Contact Us" utility on the TAOLF.com website. These questions will then be forwarded to the appropriate person and the answers will be posted on the website.
This week in North Pole City weather, we will have temperatures in the mid -20's all week with a mix of clouds and sun with 30% chance of precipitation midweek and 20% for the weekend.
I am happy to report that Dr. Twinklestein was finally able to clear me to return to work Friday morning after my short rest in the hospital. Although I had some medical issues, I am proud to report that I do hold that record for the elf who has been able to spend the longest time in the freezing cold water out at Polar Bear Lake for the Polar Plunge.
This week is St. Patrick's Day and today we discuss the first St. Patrick's Day Parade which was held March 17, 1601.
Saint Patrick, was born in the late 4th century, and was one of the most successful Christian missionaries in history. He was born in Britain to a Christian family, at the age of 16 he was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who attacked his family’s estate. They took him to Ireland, where he spent six years in captivity before escaping back to Britain. Believing he had been called by God to Christianize Ireland, he joined the Catholic Church and studied for 15 years before being consecrated as the church’s second missionary to Ireland. Patrick began his mission to Ireland in 432, and by his death in 461, the island was almost entirely Christian. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death.
Surprisingly, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland but in America. Early Irish settlers to the American colonies, many of whom were indentured servants, brought the Irish tradition of celebrating St. Patrick’s feast day to America. The first recorded parade honoring the Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was held in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony under the direction of the colony's Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur. This was uncovered fairly recently in December 2017 by historian Dr. J. Michael Francis in of all places, a gunpowder expenditures log in Spain's Archivo General de Indias. The documents reveal that spring festivities which included a feast day of San Patricio (St. Patrick) was held in the year 1600 in St. Augustine, Florida and "In March of 1601, St. Augustine's residents gathered together and processed through the city's streets in honor of an Irish saint, who appears to have assumed a privileged place in the Spanish garrison town."
There have been countless other locations that have inccorporated the celebration and parades as well. Today, across the United States, millions of Americans celebrate by enjoying St. Patrick’s Day parades and engaging in parties. Some of the other big celebrations are held each year in New York and Chicago.
The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City, the oldest continuous St. Patrick's Day parade, was held in 1762. It is now the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants, nearly 3 million observers along the 1.5-mile parade route to watch the parade.
In Chicago they annually dye the Chicago River green. The practice started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river and it keept it green for a week. Today, only 40 pounds of dye are used, and the river turns green for only a few hours.
Pi Day is on Tuesday - no not the ones you eat, but 3.14, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Look for all your local businesses to have special 31.4% sales on Tuesday! (3.14% was just so small...) This actually is the 31st year for this special sale and you will see all of the shops joining in on this special sale. From furniture to clothing and everything in between, Tuesday will be a great day to get on out to the shops in town and take advantage of all of these specials.
This week at the North Pole Snowball Games a record was shattered. The record of 158 snowballs made in one minute was broken by Richard "Snowball" Yeardley, of the Noel's Cozy Corner team, who made an impressive 299 snowballs. "Snowball" said he practices making snowballs quite often and has been practicing for 25 years. This is his first year participating in the official games though.
The two teams moving on to the Snowball Games Finals are Noel's Cozy Corner and The Cocoa House. Noel's Cozy Corner won against Elfin Wonderland with a core of 85 to 65. The Cocoa House played against the Jolly Elf team and after a very tight set of games, ended up on top with a score of 79 to 71.
This week, for the finals, all 15 of the games will be played in just one day. The finals are scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday. The event will be held at the auditorium in City Center. If you are a fan of the Snowball Games, you do not want to miss this event. It is going to be a real treat!
This week we start with March 13th being Earmuffs Day and Good Samaritan Day. Wear your favorite earmuff fashions and try your best to do a good deed. Help someone who needs it, even if they do not ask.
Then on the 14th it is Dribble to Work Day and Potato Chip Day. The elves of Santa's Workshop who make basketballs want you to help test out the bounce in the basketballs today as they celebrate Dribble to Work Day that promotes interest in women's sports. Stop by and give some a try. If you work up an appetite. Stop by Mrs. Claus' Kitchen cafeteria at the workshop for some Potato Chips which they will have plenty of for Potato Chip Day.
On the 16th the Lower 48 elves are going to celebrate No Selfies Day by putting down their phones and trying to enjoy life without documenting it.
The 17th is National Action Against Bullying and Violence Day. Celebrate by learning how to be an upstander.
The 18th is a big day. and it is also the Snowball Games Finals. At the Games, they will be helping to celebrate Maple Syrup Saturday, Corndog Day and Sloppy Joe Day, by having Corndogs and Sloppy Joes and Maple Walnut Fudge in the concession stands. The Quilting Club will be having quilting lessons too on Saturday for Quilting Day. They will be set up in the commerce association building all day.
Then on the 19th it is Chocolate Caramel Day. The North Pole Confectioners will all be showing off their chocolate caramel candies and there will be a taste off for the best chocolate caramel treat in the ballroom at the NPC Hotel.
WELF-NPC would like to wish Alan "Chilly" Twinklestein a very happy 500th birthday. Alan works at the Syrup Factory and has been a Syrup Bottler for 418 years. We wish him many more happy years.
This is Walter "Mistletoe" Livingstone and Becky "Marshmallow" Livingstone with the reminder: Never iron a 4 leaf clover; you do not want to press your luck..
Have a good evening, and be sure to tune in next week for another WELF-NPC North Pole Radio News Update.
