On Dec. 24, 1955, a call was made to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. However, this call was not from the president or a general. It was from a girl in Colorado Springs who was following the directions in an advertisement printed in the local paper – she wanted to know the whereabouts of Santa Claus.

The ad said “Hey, Kiddies! Call me direct and be sure and dial the correct number.” However, the number was printed incorrectly in the advertisement and rang into the CONAD operations center.

On duty that night was Colonel Harry Shoup, who has come to be known as the “Santa Colonel.”
Colonel Shoup received numerous calls that night and rather than hanging up, he had his operators find the location of Santa Claus and reported it to every child who phoned in that night.

Thus began a tradition carried on by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) when it was formed in 1958. Today, through satellite systems, high-powered radars and jet fighters, NORAD tracks Santa Claus as he makes his Yuletide journey around the world.

Every Christmas Eve, thousands of volunteers staff telephones and computers to answer calls and e-mails from children (and adults) from around the world. Live updates are provided through the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site (in seven languages), over telephone lines, and by e-mail to keep curious children and their families informed about Santa’s whereabouts and if it’s time to get to bed.

Each year, the NORAD Tracks Santa Web Site receives nearly nine million unique visitors from more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Volunteers receive more than 12,000 e-mails and more than 70,000 calls to the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline from children around the globe.

This year, children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and TroopTube.tv.  To follow us on any of these Web sites, type in @noradsanta into the search engine and start tracking. 

NORAD Tracks Santa has become a magical and global phenomenon, delighting generations of families everywhere.

To watch Santa's on his route go to www.noradsanta.org

    Spending most of his life in agriculture, Jim Ness knows something about planting seeds. Now he is planting the seeds of democracy with his neighbours in Special Areas.
     Ness has spent his whole life in Special Areas, and almost for as long he has had grave concerns for the political atmosphere in Special Areas, specifically, that there is no locally elected municipal government.
    He explains that this has been a lifelong concern.
    “I am an old guy, I have farmed here in the Special Areas for 50 years, I’m 71 years old and I have been furious over the Special Areas Act since I first learned about it when I was 18 years old,” he tells The Mail.
    Ness is the president of the Grassroots Alberta Landowner Association, and recently the group has published a small booklet on the Special Areas and its position that it is time to restore a locally elected municipal government.
    “I believe that I am planting a crop and I believe that spreading these booklets all over the Special Areas will get people to think and say ‘why not have democracy?’” he said. “I believe there is going to be leaders that will spring up and lead the change to municipal government… Step number one is educating everybody.”
    The Special Areas Board is a product of the Great Depression. The Special Areas are overseen by representatives appointed by the province under the authority of Municipal Affairs. Ness explains there is private land, crown land and tax recovery crown land. Over the years, there has been recommendations to reestablish municipal government, but no action has been taken.
    He says under this act, even private landowners are restricted. A few years ago, the SAMDA Economic partnership was formed to help bring younger families to the area.
    “Before the year was over I discovered the biggest roadblock to people coming back and developing new businesses and operations, was the Special Areas Act,” he said “There are too many regulatory strings under the act. It comes down to this, under the act, those of us that lease crown land and own title land, we have no rights or no remedy. It is time to shake that bondage off, get rid of the Act, keep our good people and get on with democracy, a way of life that Albertans have had for years.”
    He also has concerns about budget.
    “I as a ratepayer have no input,” he said. “ I want to have input into the budget issues in the area,” said Ness.
    If indeed they were granted the ability to establish a democratic municipality, he feels the area should not be carved up.
    “I want to maintain our borders. The eastern part of Special Areas is the best place in the world to live. I have lived here for 71 years, and I don’t want to live anywhere else. We want to maintain this area under one democratic administration. It would be a mistake to split it up.”
    He makes it clear that his issue does not come from his dealing with the management of Special Areas.
    ‘I have no axe to grind with the Special Areas Staff, they are really good people, my quarrel is with the Act. It is time for democracy. How can you argue against democracy?”
    To learn more about this movement, go to www.grassrootsalberta.ca.