Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Track Santa’s arrival via Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

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This year you can go high-tech and track Santa’s arrival with the help of NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Follow Santa’s flight via Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more. Even OnStar is on board.

It’s that time of the year again and the North American Aerospace Defense Command is getting ready to track Santa! The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, is now live and features fun holiday games and activities that change daily. The Web site is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese. On Dec. 24, the website will stream videos, captured by NORAD “Santa Cams,” from numerous cities along Santa’s journey.

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

New this year, OnStar is partnering with NORAD to provide OnStar subscribers with live Santa updates as they travel in their vehicles on Christmas Eve. Subscribers simply push the blue OnStar button to get status reports on Santa’s whereabouts.

Also new and beginning at 12:00 a.m. MST on Dec. 24, visitors to the website can watch Santa as he prepares his sleigh, checks his list, and goes through all his preparations to ensure he has a successful journey.

As soon as Santa takes off from the North Pole, children can also track him with up-to-the-minute Google Maps and Google Earth reports.

Santa trackers will begin answering phones and replying to email at 4:00 a.m. MST (6:00 a.m. EST) on Christmas Eve. Children of all ages can call the NTS toll free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.

The NTS program is carried out with the assistance of many corporate partners. Booz Allen Hamilton has designed the NTS Web site. Other sponsors helping with the event include Verizon, who donates the toll-free number, Time Warner, Avaya and PCI provide communications engineering, while OnStar, 5 Star Bank, Pepsi Distributing and First Choice Awards and Gifts keep the trackers happy with food, beverages and souvenir tracking pins.

The NTS program began on Dec. 24, 1955, after a phone call was made to the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The call was from a local youngster who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a local newspaper advertisement. The commander at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colo. who answered the phone that night gave the youngster the information requested – the whereabouts of Santa. This began the tradition of tracking Santa, a tradition that was carried on by NORAD when it was formed in 1958.

The NTS program has grown immensely since first presented on the Internet in 1998. The Web site receives millions of unique visitors from hundreds of countries and territories around the world. In addition, the NTS Operations Center will be occupied for 25 hours with over 1,200 volunteers on Christmas Eve, who will be receiving hundreds of thousands phone calls and emails from families around the world.

We look forward to helping you with NORAD Tracks Santa!
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A Christmas Carol on IMAX in St Augustine

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Disney’s “A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come, will premiere on the largest IMAX screen in northeast Florida Friday, Dec. 11, 2009. The film will be a special engagement at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater with tickets being $13 for adults with discounts for children, military, seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased and additional film information may be found at www.wgv.com.

“A Christmas Carol” is Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of an old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who must face Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come as they help to bring kindness to his otherwise cold heart. The Ghosts remind Scrooge of the man he used to be, the hard truth of what the world is today and what will happen if he does not strive to be a better man. Set around Christmas, the most joyous day of the year, Scrooge realizes the sharp contrast of his own personality.

“A Christmas Carol” is rated PG for scary sequences and scary images and runs one hour and 36 minutes. The film will play at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater through Monday, Jan. 18, 2010.

The theater also is currently presenting a holiday favorite, “The Polar Express,” on the big screen through Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. The 90-minute animated holiday adventure based on the Caldecott Award-winning book by Chris Van Allsburg, tells the story of a boy battling with the belief of Santa Claus’ existence and takes audiences on the boy’s extraordinary journey to the North Pole. Tickets for “The Polar Express” are $6 for all ages.

Closed captioning services are available for both holiday films. For all film and ticket information, visit the IMAX Theater section of www.wgv.com.

Additionally, Santa Claus will make appearances at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater lobby around the holiday films. Santa’s schedule is as follows:

snowflakeSaturday, Dec. 5  -  10 to 11 a.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6  – 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12  – 10:30 to 11 a.m. and 1:30 to 2 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 13  – 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2:30 to 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 19  – 12 to 2:30 p.m.

Watch our video from the Disney Train Tour “A Christmas Carol” in Jacksonville, Florida below

Charleston Tree Lighting 2009

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Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. and Santa Claus will light the magnificent the official City of Charleston Christmas Tree of Lights, in Marion Square. Enjoy entertainment by The Company Company, Charleston Community Band, Ashley River Unichorus, Charleston Development Academy, Dance Carolina, plus some wonderful surprises!

Sat. Dec. 5, 2009 from 4:30-6:30p.m.
Marion Square, Calhoun & King Streets
Admission is free!
charleston-tree

Frosty the Snowman and Elf – Savannah, GA

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SCAD Presents Second Annual Holiday Matinee

The Savannah College of Art and Design invites the local community to the second annual SCAD Holiday Matinee, a family-friendly celebration of holiday spirit, Saturday, Dec. 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Free Movies at the Trustees Theater

The free event, open to the public and held at SCAD’s historic Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St., will feature screenings of the animated classics “Frosty the Snowman” and “Frosty Returns” beginning at 11 a.m. and the holiday comedy “Elf” at 2 p.m.

Frosty’s adventures in “Frosty the Snowman” are well known to children worldwide. Frosty comes to life to weather the dastardly plans of an evil magician before he finds safety and happiness at the North Pole. His adventures continue in “Frosty Returns,” when Twitchell invents “Summer Wheeze,” a spray-can that instantly removes snow and slush. It falls to Frosty’s friend Holly to keep Frosty from melting and convince everyone that snow is a good thing.

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"Frosty the Snowman" at the Trustees Theater Savannah presented by SCAD

Elf with Will Ferrell and James Caan

In “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell and James Caan, Ferrell’s character Buddy stows away in Santa’s toy bag and ends up at the North Pole. The elves raise him as one of their own, but when he begins to notice how different he is from the other elves, he travels to New York City to find his birth father.

Guests at SCAD Holiday Matinee also may enjoy complimentary refreshments, sing-alongs of favorite holiday classics and more.

For more information, contact the SCAD box office at 912.525.5050. Media inquiries may be directed to 912.525.5225.

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British Nightwatch and Grande Illumination – St Augustine, Florida

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St. Augustine’s British heritage will be celebrated in grand style on December 4 and 5 when British Night Watch and Grande Illumination return to the Oldest City. One of the most colorful and exciting events of the holiday season, the 35th annual presentation of Grande Illumination and British Night Watch will feature an entertaining and educational blend of pageantry and authentic historical presentations describing life in St. Augustine when it was part of the British Empire (1763-1784).

This year, the fun gets underway Friday, December 4 at 8 p.m. with a free concert featuring traditional Celtic music performed by Father, Son and Friends at the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum’s Taberna del Gallo on St. George Street. Sangria, cider and ale mixed with boisterous singing by authentically-garbed re-enactors will create just the sort of jocularity needed to ease the pain of the recent loss of the American colonies. Admission is free.

Saturday’s events include a British encampment from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Colonial Spanish Quarter. The encampment will feature a 9 a.m. performance of fife and drum music and the raising of the King’s Colors. A master musician will entertain at 10:30 a.m. followed by fife and drum music at 11 a.m. At 12:45 p.m., a fashion parade featuring the latest fashions from 1782 will take center stage at the encampment. At 2 p.m., special British military demonstrations will take place at the Castillo de San Marcos. At 4 p.m., the public is invited to attend an “afternoon of musik and country dance” at the Flagler Foundation Garden on the corner of St. George and Hypolita Streets

At 7:30 p.m., the British troops, their Native American allies and camp followers will assemble to the beating of drums and the music of fifes at the De Mesa House on St. George Street. At 8 p.m., this colorful contingent will parade by torchlight to Government House where they will hear a holiday proclamation from the governor before embarking on a festive march through the historic district. The public will be invited to light a candle and join in the boisterous parade through the town. A musketry volley of joy, singing of carols and general revelry by everyone involved will add to the holiday spirit.

All of the events associated with Grande Illumination and British Night Watch are open to the public and admission is free. The events are supported by a grant from the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council. For more information, call 904.829.5318 or visit www.britishnightwatch.org.








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