Star-Bulletin
seeks your stories

Share your
Santa customs

The business of being Santa is not an exact science. Is he supposed to wrap the presents or not? Does he eat cookies or feed carrots to his reindeer? If a stocking stuffer is too big to fit in the stocking, where does it go?

At one house we know of, gifts from Santa are never wrapped. They just sit there near the stockings, the first to be seen on Christmas morning. And speaking of the stockings, Santa always puts something special in the toe.

At another house, Santa's gifts are wrapped in special Santa paper that no one else gets to use. And at another, Santa runs a ribbon from the stocking, through the house, to the place outside where the special gift is hidden.

When you're a kid, Santa's habits are sacred. Then you grow up, have kids and suddenly the wife says, "Don't use that paper, that's Santa's paper."

So anyway, how does Santa come to your house? We're collecting family traditions regarding the big guy with the dimples so merry, the nose like a cherry (is that even what your Santa looks like?).

Here are some kick-off questions to get you started:

How does Santa find out what your kids want?

Where does he leave the gifts? Are there rules about what goes in the stockings?

Do you leave treats for him or his reindeer and what happens to them?

How does he get in the house, since you probably don't have a chimney?

We want to hear from adults and kids, about Christmases present and past. Send your stories, in two to 20 paragraphs, to: Santa, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802; or fax to 5213-8509, or e-mail features@starbulletin.com.

Deadline is Dec. 15. We'll run the stories Christmas week.

Time to roll out
Stones stories

So ya got any Stones stories? No, not STONED stories, but ones about the Rolling Stones.

If you've got them, we want you to tell them. Or do you also have cool photos you or your friends took of the Stones? Show them to us.

We want to hear from boomers who grew up (and are now growing old) with the Stones; from teens who watch in horror as their parental units boogied to "Jumping Jack Flash"; from grand-parental units who had to put up with teen-agers blasting "Paint It Black" on transistor radios.

Maybe you saw the Stones in 1973, when they last played Hawaii, and had a life-changing experience. Maybe you caught them in New York in the mid-'70s.

Share your thoughts on how life and you were different when you first heard "Sympathy for the Devil."

The stories can be two to 20 paragraphs long.

Send them to us at Stone Stories, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802, or fax to 523-8509 or e-mail to features@starbulletin.com.

Include your name and daytime phone number. We may be calling for details or to get photos.

A few weeks before the Stones' concerts in January, we'll publish them in the Star-Bulletin. If you have questions, call 525-8660.

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Star-Bulletin