Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Holly jolly holdup at Fla. Walgreens PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A Florida man who wished a clerk a "Merry Christmas" is at large after robbing a Walgreens in Palm Beach, Fla., the Palm Beach Post reported Friday. Advertisement The man brought a bottle of Gatorade to the counter, and when asked to pay for it, he handed the clerk a note demanding two cartons of cigarettes and all the money in the register. After the clerk complied with his demands, the robber apologized for the robbery and wished him a Merry Christmas, the newspaper reported. He fled the scene with $779.80, as well as the Gatorade and the cigarettes. Police are reviewing the store's video surveillance tapes. Mrs. Claus kidnapped from San Jose SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A Scrooge stole Mrs. Claus from the front porch of a San Jose, Calif., man who says his Christmas display is mostly for his grandchildren. Advertisement For the past couple of years, James Behan has put Santa Claus and his wife together in the front hall. But this year, he decided to put the 5-foot high Mrs. Claus on the porch. Behan told the San Jose Mercury News that his wife warned him Mrs. Claus might be kidnapped by thieves but he laughed off the possibility. Now, he has to explain her absence to his grandchildren. "The children want to know where Mrs. Santa Claus has gone to,'' Behan said. "I have to tell a white lie and say she's back at the North Pole, cooking dinner for Santa when he finishes delivering all of his packages.'' Other Christmas thefts in the area this year include a baby Jesus taken from a nativity scene in Millbrae and a Christmas tree decorated by children that was stolen in the heart of San Francisco. What will Jeb Bush miss most? Towels TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Outgoing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush cited fresh towels as the part of the governorship he'll miss most, the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat reported Friday. Speaking to reporters for perhaps the last time as governor, Bush said he would miss life in the governor's mansion, specifically the food, the beauty of the residence, and a never-ending supply of fresh towels. Advertisement "I don't know how it is in your life but it's -- most of the time, you know, most people take showers and you use towels six or seven times. But here, although I've been trained to do otherwise, any time I want, I can have a new towel," Bush told the newspaper. Bush and his wife, Columba, left the mansion Friday after dedicating a new library in the governor's mansion Thursday. The two were expected to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays elsewhere in South Florida, the newspaper said. Festivus no joke at pole company MILWAUKEE, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- "Festivus" may have begun as a comedy protest of the commercialization of Christmas but it's bringing business to one Wisconsin maker of Festivus Poles. The aluminum pole was always a big part of Festivus and the Wagner Companies sells aluminum pipe, and I said, 'Gee, we could certainly make an aluminum Festivus pole,'" Tony Leto told the Milwaukee Journal Times. Festivus, a non-denominational holiday celebrated on Dec. 23 and launched on the Dec. 18, 1997, episode of "Seinfeld" started out as a joke. But it's caught on, if visits to the Wagner Festivus pole Web site are any indication. Last year, in the week before Festivus day, festivuspoles.com had about 100,000 visits, Leto told the newspaper. Advertisement Wagner sells two Festivus pole models -- a 6-foot floor model for $38 and a 2-foot, 8-inch tabletop model for $30.
