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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Eugene,I am Mike Presley's mom.He was at Norad for
a number of years.He was on phone with Cheney on 9-11.Beforre Norad he managed
the stealth fighters at Nellis and first Iraq war.I have American flag flown
over Bagdad and signed by all the steath pilots.He did the Santa thing all the
years he was at Norad.A proud momma Barb Presley</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net
href="mailto:eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net">eugenemelvin.roots@comcast.net</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=or-roots@sosinet.sos.state.or.us
href="mailto:or-roots@sosinet.sos.state.or.us">OR List Roots</A> ; <A
title=ORFORUM-L@rootsweb.com href="mailto:ORFORUM-L@rootsweb.com">GFO List
Roots</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, December 22, 2005 11:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [or-roots] NORAD Observes 50th
Anniversary of Tracking Santa</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Release No. 12-11-05<BR>Dec. 22,
2005</STRONG></DIV>
<P><FONT size=3></FONT><BR><STRONG><FONT size=4>NORAD Observes 50th
Anniversary of Tracking Santa<BR></FONT><BR>By Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen,
USA<BR>Special to American Forces Press Service<BR></STRONG></FONT><BR><FONT
size=3>PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 22, 2005 - The North
American Aerospace Defense Command is observing its 50th anniversary of
tracking Santa Claus on his annual rounds, NORAD officials said
here.<BR><BR>The tradition of tracking Santa began in 1955, when a local
Sears, Roebuck and Co. store ran a newspaper ad urging children to make a
phone call on Christmas Eve and talk to Santa Claus. As fate would have it,
the phone number was misprinted and, instead of reaching Santa, youngsters
found themselves talking with Air Force Col. Harry Shoup of the Continental
Air Defense Command at Cheyenne Mountain.<BR><BR>Rather than hanging up, Shoup
and his troops answered every child's call that night with a report of Santa's
location. CONAD personnel kept up the practice until 1958, when NORAD was
formed and took over Santa-tracking duties. NORAD has continued the Santa
tracking tradition for several reasons, according to Air Force Master Sgt.
John Tomassi, co-director of Santa-tracking operations.<BR><BR>"I think in the
initial stages, back in the '50s and '60s, it was just a novelty kind of
thing," he said. "A lot of people - children and their families - do this
tracking Santa as a tradition in their family. We've recognized now that
people have taken this program as a tradition, and what we can do is educate
them.<BR><BR>"We do track Santa," he continued. "However, we do provide for
the defense of the North American aerospace also. We use the satellites to
track Santa, we use the radar, we use jet fighters, but all of those exact
same things are what we use to monitor the aerospace of North
America."<BR><BR>While youngsters are tracking Santa's flight, they may also
learn a thing or two about the world around them, Tomas si said.<BR><BR>"We
think of it as a geography lesson," said he explained, "because the different
places that Santa visits or sightings that we have, a lot of people haven't
heard of. If we can get some children to go and look at a map to find out
where Timbuktu is, or where India is, or Pakistan, or wherever, then we feel
all the better for that."<BR><BR>Last Christmas Eve, volunteers at Cheyenne
Mountain answered nearly 55,000 phone calls and 35,000 e-mails from children
around the world. During December 2004, the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site had
912 million hits from 181 countries. This year, about 500 volunteers - most of
them U.S. and Canadian military personnel and their families - will report for
telephone-answering duty on Christmas Eve. But already, youngsters are sending
messages to Santa via the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site.<BR><BR>"E-mails are
arriving from India and Ireland and all over the world already from children
with their wish lists who want to talk to Sant a," Tomassi said. "We receive,
on average, 200 e-mails a day."<BR><BR>NORAD Tracks Santa volunteers will
answer calls from 2 a.m. MST Dec. 24 to 2 a.m. MST Dec. 25 at (877) HiNORAD --
(877) 446-6723 -- toll-free in the United States; or at (719)
474-2111.<BR><BR>(Army Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen is assigned to North
American Aerospace Defense Command public
affairs.)<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><STRONG>Related Sites:<BR><BR>NORAD Tracks
Santa [</STRONG></FONT><A href="http://www.noradsanta.org/"
target=_blank><FONT
size=2><STRONG>http://www.noradsanta.org/</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=2><STRONG>]<BR><BR>North American Aerospace Defense Command
[</STRONG></FONT><A href="http://www.norad.mil/" target=_blank><FONT
size=2><STRONG>http://www.norad.mil/</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=2><STRONG>]<BR></STRONG></FONT></P></DIV></WMFILTERED></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>