Propulsion: 9 RP (reindeer power).
So volunteer Sara Berghoff was caught off-guard Monday when a child called to see if Santa could be especially kind this year to the families affected by the Connecticut school shooting.
Fuel: Hay, oats and carrots (for reindeer).
"Are there police elves?" said another.
HE KNOWS WHEN YOU'RE AWAKE: At NORAD's suggestion, volunteers often tell callers that Santa won't drop off the presents until all the kids in the home are asleep.
The boy turned from the phone and yelled to others in the room, "I told you guys he was real!"
"I told him Santa would know where he was and not to worry," Barr said.
Volunteers take phone calls from…
Sara, just 13 herself, was surprised but gathered her thoughts quickly. "If I can get ahold of him, I'll try to get the message to him," she told the child.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard…
Air Force Maj. Jamie Humphries, who took the call, said, "I'm 37 years old, and I believe in Santa, and if you believe in him as well, then he must be real."
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But kids still manage to ask the unexpected, including, "Does Santa leave presents for dogs?"
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) — Most of the thousands of children who call the annual Santa-tracking operation at a Colorado Air Force Base on Christmas Eve ask the usual questions: "Where's Santa, and when will he get here?"
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She also received an invitation to visit an 11-year-old boy in Fort Worth, Texas, and a request to put her husband on the phone. "He's not here right now. But you know what, I will tell him you asked about him. OK?" she replied.
"How does Santa make iPads?"
THE REAL DEAL: A young boy called to ask if Santa was real.
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"That's a closely guarded secret, and only Santa knows," Barr replied.
A sampling of anecdotes from the program this year:
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NORAD Deputy Commander Lt. General…
Another child asked if he was on the nice list or the naughty list.
Volunteers who speak other languages get green Santa hats and a placard listing their languages so organizers can find them quickly.
Volunteers take phone calls from…
"I'm from Newtown, Connecticut, where the shooting was," she remembers the child asking. "Is it possible that Santa can bring extra presents so I can deliver them to the families that lost kids?"
BEST OF: Choice questions and comments wound up posted on a flip chart.
Sara was one of hundreds of volunteers at NORAD Tracks Santa who answered thousands of calls, program spokeswoman Marisa Novobilski said. Spokeswoman 1st Lt. Stacey Fenton said that as of midnight Tuesday, trackers answered more than 111,000 calls, breaking last year's record of 107,000.
NORAD and its predecessor have been fielding Christmas Eve phone calls from children — and a few adults — since 1955. That's when a newspaper ad listed the wrong phone number for kids to call Santa. Callers ended up getting the Continental Air Defense Command, which later became NORAD. CONAD commanders played along, and the ritual has been repeated every year since.
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"He kept saying 'in heaven,'" Eckels said. She told him, "I think Santa headed there first thing."
"When you see Santa, tell him hello for me, I never see him."
Online:
NORAD wanted to set up a call center in Afghanistan but that proved too complex, she said.
First lady Michelle Obama, who is spending the holidays with her family in Hawaii, also joined in answering calls as she has in recent years. She spent about 30 minutes talking with children from across the country, telling some who asked that her favorite toys growing up were Barbie dolls and an Easy Bake oven.
"Big sister wanted to add her 3-year-old brother to the naughty list," one read.
After 57 years, NORAD can predict what most kids will ask. Its 11-page playbook for volunteers includes a list of nearly 20 questions and answers, including how old is Santa (at least 16 centuries) and has Santa ever crashed into anything (no).
TOYS IN HEAVEN: A boy who called from Missouri asked when Santa would drop off toys in heaven.
"Need a Spanish speaker!" one organizer called as he rushed out of one of three phone rooms.
"What's the best way to booby-trap the living room to trap Santa?"
DON'T WORRY, HE'LL FIND YOU: Glenn Barr took a call from a 10-year-old who wasn't sure if he would be sleeping at his mom's house or his dad's and was worried about whether Santa would find him.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard…
Emissions: Classified.
FOR GEARHEADS: For people who want to know the specs of Santa's sleigh, NORAD offers a trove of tidbits, including:
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"I'm going to be asleep by 4 o'clock," said a child from Virginia.
Track Santa online at http://www.noradsanta.org
"Thank you so much for that information," said a grateful mom from Michigan.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S.-Canada command responsible for protecting the skies over both nations, tracks Santa from its home at Peterson Air Force Base.
"They had a great time," said Novobilski, the program spokeswoman.
Volunteer Katherine Beaupre takes…
HEY, MR. ELF: "Mr. Elf," said one caller, "This is Adam, and I've been really good this year."
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CHRISTMAS EVE IN AFGHANISTAN: Five U.S. service personnel answered calls from Afghanistan for about 90 minutes through a conferencing hookup.
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: NORAD got calls from 220 countries and territories last year, and non-English-speakers called this year as well.
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"Ohhhhhhh," said an 8-year-old from Illinois, as if trying to digest a brand-new fact.
Lizzie Solano, center, and her…
Weight at takeoff: 75,000 GD (gumdrops).
His mother got on the line and explained to Jennifer Eckels, who took the call, that the boy's younger sister died this year.
NORAD says record number of calls to track Santa Related Content prevnext"How much to adopt one of Santa's reindeer?"
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