| Dear Santa: Here's what Humboldt kids want for Christmas
Every year, it seems, there's that one toy -- the one all the Saturday-morning commercials are pushing, all the kids are clamoring for and all the parents are elbowing each other to score. But, according to Sydney Knight, an employee at The Toy Box in Henderson Center, there's no runaway favorite this holiday season, no frenzy-inducing, mob-attracting hot item. Or, as she put it, "There's no Tickle Me Elmo." Instead, say local toy store workers, kids are falling back on time-honored favorites -- the kind of classic toys that their parents, or even grandparents, may well have enjoyed. "Pirates are big," said Dawn Craghead, manager of Moon's Play & Learn. "They've always been big, but since the movies, they're even bigger. And science kits. Those are always popular." Toy Box owner Michelle Knight pointed to animal figurines called Safari Adventure Outpost, colorful trucks and tractors made by Wow and a line of fantasy-themed toys, including unicorns, dragons and princesses, from the German company Schleich as their most sought-after items.
Bulletin readers can help wishes come true
The Baxter Bulletin Christmas Wish program has a mission: To provide a nice Christmas for families with children in need. Donations of toys, clothing and money may be made at the Wish Distribution Center in the former Beuford's Bar-B-Q building in Georgetown Square. The center is open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through Nov. 15 and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 20-Dec. 13. .
Military-themed phone charity makes bold goal - Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - ...
NORWELL, Mass. — At the holidays, for a service member at war, there's nothing like a phone call home. Brittany and Robbie Bergquist have provided more than $1.4 million worth of them — 24 million precious minutes. The Bergquists are teenage siblings who didn't even own a cell phone in 2004, when they heard that an Army reservist faced a $7,600 bill for making calls home from Iraq. They founded Cell Phones for Soldiers based on three ideas: Most people have an old, inactive cell phone lying around; they'd probably donate it to the right cause; and they'd probably agree that, as Brittany puts it, "Everyone has a right to call home." In three years, an effort that began with a piggybank raid and a car wash has turned into a booming home front charity — one that has turned its founders' lives upside down and won them devoted friends throughout the military and beyond.
Local News
Amélie Guertin will be remembered as an energetic, unselfish girl who was a hard worker and never took no for an answer. When she was three or four years old she wanted a dog, but her parents said no. For the next two months she pretended she was a puppy; walking on four legs, panting, barking, rubbing her ear, said Am‚lie's mom Lynne with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, "until we gave in and got her a dog." The dog, named Lady, would become one of many animals who would receive love and care from the Timmins girl affectionately known as "belle blonde." Dogs were her favourite animal, but she also liked reptiles, bugs and a gerbil named Speedy. "She used to feed grey jay birds at our cottage," said Lynne. "They would come right up and sit in her hand.
Moments in time / Twenty-five years after The Catch and The Play (and the home run), consider these the Bay Area's 10 ...
More than 25 years ago, at the start of 1982, Bay Area fans had no way of knowing they soon would witness two of the most memorable moments in sports history. Those images became partners in upper-case lore: Dwight Clark reaching halfway to the stars to make The Catch and Kevin Moen weaving through Stanford's band to complete The Play. Clark's catch counts as one of the most famous moments in NFL history and the landmark play in 49ers history, launching the franchise toward the first of its five Super Bowl titles. Moen's moment was more about sheer craziness, punctuating Cal's unforgettable five-lateral kickoff return to beat Stanford in the Big Game. The Play qualifies as the most famous play in college football history, an unmatched blend of drama, spontaneity and absurdity.
Holiday shoppers storm local stores seeking deals on nation's busiest retail day
Bundled up in coats and giggling, Mary Ann Schewe and her sister Louise Harris tried their best Friday mornng to squeeze a luggage set and two buggies full of holiday presents into the back of her Mercury Grand Marquis. "I can't buy anything else," Harris said, standing in the Target parking lot. "My son was supposed to meet us in his truck." Like thousands of other shoppers across Middle Georgia, the sisters left their homes in Jones County before dawn to take advantage of Black Friday sales. Schewe said they started at Wal-Mart at 4 a.m. and had marked items off their lists at Goody's and Old Navy in hopes that the line outside Target would get shorter as the morning wore on. She said the line of shoppers waiting to get into Target stretched all the way to Dick's Sporting Goods on the other end of Eisenhower Crossing when they first arrived.
Holiday wishbook
Straight from the mouths of Culpeper kids, here's the scoop on holiday gifts for grades 1-12. Back in the day you were in the hot seat asking Santa Claus for an A.C. Gilbert Erector set, an Atari 2600 game or a scented Strawberry Shortcake doll with Berrykin case. However, times have changed. The toys that fueled our imaginations so many years ago are now called "vintage." So what's a big bad adult supposed to do when a train set just doesn't cut it anymore? The Star-Exponent set forth to find out what this generation of technology-savvy children wants these days. We visited three Culpeper schools - Epiphany Catholic, St. Luke's Lutheran and Culpeper County High - and talked with a boy and girl from every grade to give you, oh clueless grownup, a better shot at getting it right this year.
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