Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Police, Sheriff's Office Clear For Santa's Visit

In less than a week Santa will be making his annual pilgrimage around the world delivering toys to boys and girls.

Santa, in a phone interview, said the children in Clark County have been especially good this year, and will be getting lots of toys.

St. Nick has gone high-tech for the new millennium. Now, along with using magic to keep up with how the boys and girls behave, he's keeping track of their behavior by using specially designed computers.

His computer system logs each time a child misbehaves, or disobeys their parents.

In addition, Kris Kringle accesses government satellites to keep visual tabs on how children are acting.

Another computer system plots the fastest route around the globe, with each stop planned to the nanosecond.

Santa also knows about time travel, and literally stops time at midnight on Christmas Eve. By doing this, it seems as though he's making all of his visits simultaneously.

However, St. Nick refuses to share this secret with anybody, saying if people could stop time, he would be caught and this could end Christmas as we know it.

Even though his trip already planned, including having double-checked the weather charts to make sure Rudolph and the other reindeer won't encounter much turbulence, Santa is counting on a lot of local help in making a smooth run.

He began by contacting the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington to make sure his flight plan was filed and no other air traffic would interfere with his trip.

Then, Santa called the Arkansas State Police, asking for their help with ground traffic.

Even though Santa flies for most of his trip, he still has to land in order to deliver the goodies for Christmas morning.

From there, he called the Clark County Sheriff's Office and talked to Sheriff Troy Tucker.

This was done to make sure the county roads would be safe and clear so the toys could be delivered.

"You know we'll help," Tucker told Santa.

"We'll have everything ready for Santa's visit," Tucker said. "All of my deputies have been told to make sure Santa gets top priority on Christmas Eve."

Santa also talked with Gurdon City Marshal David Childres, who agreed with Tucker, saying all GPD officers will be ready and waiting to help St. Nick on his rounds.

"We're not going to let anything happen to Santa in Gurdon," Childres said.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will again be chipping in and helping this year.

Officials with the AG&FC said their officers will be out to make sure those who may be hunting illegally don't take a shot at any of the reindeer as they fly across the area's skies.

"Everything will be all right," St. Nick said. "No one's ever seen me or my reindeer clearly because I use special stealth equipment to mask our arrival.

"Besides, who would want to shoot one of my reindeer on Christmas Eve. We all know there's no one who's that big of a Grinch."

But, Santa warns all the children, just because Christmas is a few days away doesn't mean they can quit being good.

In fact, he said it's a good idea for them to be good all the time, as he's watching them each and every day with his special equipment.

Santa still relies on his favored older methods of keeping track of how children act  by talking with the animals.

It's a documented fact St. Nick can speak with any kind of animal in the world, and does to find out how children are behaving.

"I just love talking to the animals," he said. "But, then I love talking to everything and everyone.

"Ho, ho, ho, this will be the best Christmas ever because the children have been so good.

"I can't wait to make my rounds and see their faces light up when they see what I've brought."

Santa had to cut the interview short because he and the elves are so busy checking last minute details to make sure everything works perfectly.

As Santa ended the interview he wished everyone a very merry Christmas and happy New Year.