Lyndsey Eagan, 11, passes an accessory to her sister, Megan, 9, left, while playing with Megan’s Christmas gift – a Barbie Dream Townhouse — at their Codorus Township home on Christmas Day. The Friendship Elementary School students opened gifts Sunday morning with their parents Greg and Cathy.
So what was your favorite gift this year? You can tell us in a comment below, a video message, with a photo or drawing.
We’d love to hear from you! Email your photos, videos or drawings to jsimcoe@yorkdispatch.com!
Santa Claus reads "A Visit from St. Nick" in a video posted below.
Updated on 12/23/2011!
One of our favorite parts about working on the Junior Dispatch website is the daily videos we add on the right side of the page. We spend probably too much time looking for the best of the best for you, but it’s so much fun searching through the wide world of YouTube to find fun and interesting stories.
In the last month or so, we’ve featured a lot of Christmas videos, and now we want to offer you a done-in-one post that contains them all — plus plenty of bonus videos!
This videos celebrate all that is funny, touching and maybe even a little aggravating about the Christmas season.
If you have a favorite we should add to the mix, please offer us a link in the comments below!
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Take a look at the history of the Santa Claus legend. http://youtu.be/RbUVKXdu4lQ
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Fans of the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strips will vividly remember Calvin’s snow creations, which are recreated in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq8iyhMFLYE
The Northeastern High School Student Senate will host an all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast with Santa, 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 at the school, 300 High St., Manchester.
The menu will feature pancakes, sausage, eggs, juice, coffee and tea. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 6-12. For $1 off the admission price, bring hats, gloves, gift cards, etc. for Northeastern’s Help-A-Neighbor program.
Santa, Mrs. Clause, and the Elves will be there, so bring your camera for pictures. The entire York community is invited. Proceeds benefit NHS Student Senate.
Downtown York’s historic Central Market is preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus on Saturday, Dec. 17, as he takes a break from Christmas preparations to shop for farm-fresh York County items and visit with local children.
Santa will be at the Philadelphia Street seating area from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A professional photographer will be on hand to help capture the moment, and those photographs will be available for purchase. Parents should also have their cameras ready; Santa doesn’t mind the paparazzi at all!
For information about the market, visit www.CentralMarketYork.com.
The 2011 annual Santa Run through areas of Conewago Township is scheduled for Friday to Sunday, Dec. 16-18.
Starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 16, Santa’s sleigh, accompanied by fire equipment, will visit Strinestown, Sharps Village North, Cloverleaf Road to Kern Road to East Butter Road to Greensprings Road, Stonegate Commons and Meadow Run Mobile Home Park.
From 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 17, Santa will be in the parking lot at Neiman’s Garage, 704 E. Canal Road. If Santa is not traveling past your house then this is your time to see Santa. Santa will not be stopping along East Canal Road this year due to heavy traffic encountered in the past. At 2 p.m. Santa will be traveling to Locust Run, Bennett Run, Hunter Creek, Zions View and ending at the York County Racing Club parking lot.
Starting at 2 p.m. Dec. 18, Santa will travel to Greenbriar Road, Dietz Estates and Westwood Mobile Home Park.
The times and dates are subject to change based on weather conditions and or emergency calls.
Christmas Tree sales continue at the Station in Strinestown, 6 to 9 p.m. weekdays, noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Jose Alvarez, a second-grade student at Ferguson Elementary School, won the children’s coloring contest held in conjunction with York City’s Light Up Night on Dec. 2. Among Jose’s prizes was a ride-along on a fire engine with Santa.
Today’s edition of Kid Scoop takes a look at budgeting money, which we admit sounds kind of boring. But take a look at it, because the whole article is “hosted” by a pair of crazy reindeer that really know what their talking about.
The reindeer on Kid Scoop are the cartoon kind, and aren’t really acting very reindeer like at all. They talk to one another, stand on two hooves and worry about money.
Yeah, real reindeer don’t do any of those things very much.
Reindeer, you see, are essentially beefed-up, arctic versions of the whitetail, and here are some interesting reindeer facts:
Reindeer became part of Christmas folklore after part of the 1823 poem “A visit from St. Nicholas.” The reindeer listed in the poem are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. Dunder was eventually changed to Donder, Blixem became Bliksem, and then switched again to Blitzen.
Rudolph became the hazardous weather addition to Santa’s team in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” after his existence was revealed in a 1939 publication by the retailer Montgomery Ward.
Both male and female reindeer grow antlers.
A century ago, reindeer were used to deliver the mail to residents of Wales, Alaska.
You can buy canned reindeer meatballs in some countries.
Humans have kept reindeer herds for centuries.
Reindeer are now found mostly in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. They once lived in the mainland part of U.S. too, and evidence of them has been found as far south as Nevada.
A reindeer herd has been established on the island of South Georgia, one of the islands used as a staging ground for expeditions to the South Pole.
In Lapland (an area that encompasses parts of Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden), reindeer are harnessed to pull tobogans. That makes for some extreme sledding!
Reindeer mostly eat lichen, a moss-like plant, during the winter. When the snow recedes, they chow down on more typical deer-food, such as grass, leaves and flowering plants.
In at least one case, an entire reindeer was found inside the stomach of a greenland shark, a shark that can grow to 21 feet long and lives in the North Atlantic.
Another thing reindeer about reindeer is that they know how to swim, even if they don’t do it too often. Check out this video to see it happen!
If you want to see reindeer all geared up for their Christmas Even ride across the world, check out this video!
What is Kid Scoop? It’s a special page that appears every Monday in The York Dispatch and other local newspapers. Aside from its main feature and the Writing Corner, it includes games, puzzles and jokes.
Get your copy of Kid Scoop in today’s edition of The York Dispatch, and be sure to assemble your own Write On! entry and submit it to NIE@ync.com. We’ll run every entry here!
Of course, you can submit those entries, and anything else you want, for publication here on the Junior Dispatch. Send your JD items to juniordispatch@yorkdispatch.com. Learn about what you can submit here.
One of the entries in the Gingerbread Festival "village" at the Paul Smith Library of Southern York County Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (Bill Kalina -- The York Dispatch)
Be part of the Gingerbread Festival at the Paul Smith Library of Southern York County by visiting the display and voting on your favorite gingerbread house through Friday, Dec. 9.
Entries will be judged on creativity, appearance, use of decorations, and overall visual appeal.
The winning houses will be named at a ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 11 a.m.
Other gingerbread-themed events include gingerbread boy puppet shows on Dec. 19 and 20. Also on Dec. 19, is a gingerbread cookie decorating session.
For more about events at Paul Smith Library, 80 Constitution Avenue, Shrewsbury, call 717-235-4313.
An opportunity to take pictures of your kids and pets with Santa will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Senior Commons at Powder Mill, 1775 Powder Mill Road, York.
Children are invited to sit on Santa’s lap and share their secret wish list. The event is free and will include cookies and hot chocolate. Guests are asked to bring their own photography and video equipment to record the holiday occasion. Please bring small pets that are well-trained and good with people and children.
Reservations are suggested, but not required. To reserve a spot or for more information, call (717) 741-0961.
Junior Dispatch offers kid-appropriate news, videos and games for school age children.
Beyond what we put on the site, we need your help too.
Send us your children's poems, stories, drawings and reports juniordispatch@yorkdispatch.com.
Please read our submission guidelines for more details.
