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School teaches Santa skills

MIDLAND, Mich., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The proprietors of a Michigan Santa Claus-training school say being a good St. Nick is about more than the costume; it requires a special skill set.

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Tom and Holly Valent, owners of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Mich., said their $300 training program attracts more than 100 men and women each year who plan to portray Santa or his wife, Mrs. Claus, during the holiday season, The Miami Herald reported.

The Valents said their students spread Christmas cheer across the United States after spending three days in October learning about various topics -- including fun facts about the North Pole and sign language for communicating with deaf children. They said the Kringles-in-training are also treated to a real sleigh ride and get to interact with the two reindeer owned by the school -- aptly named Comet and Cupid.

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"We teach everything that we feel a real Santa would need to know," Holly Valent said. "Not everyone can be a good Santa. It takes something special."


447 tubas belt out Christmas tunes

ANAHEIM, Calif., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Organizers of California's fourth annual Tuba Christmas in Downtown Disney said 447 musicians turned up with their tubas to play holiday harmonies.

Pat Paternoster, who coordinated the event in Anaheim, said that while the number of horn-blowers fell short of last year's world record-setting 502 tubas, the ensemble of nearly 450 tuba players -- ranging in age from 10 to 75 -- made for a formidable hour of Christmas music, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported.

"When you get that sound, you get them chills down your back -- you know you've done the right thing," Paternoster said.

Tubist Nina Pedersen, who won the event's costume competition with her elf apparel, said that while participants only had two hours to practice together before the performance, they quickly bonded over their love of the tuba.

"We're all musicians," she said. "It's great to get together and play Christmas carols."


Man sets latke-eating world record

LAKE GROVE, N.Y., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Canadian man wolfed down 46 potato pancakes in 8 minutes to take the top spot at the National Potato Latke Eating Championship in Lake Grove, N.Y.

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The contest, held Sunday before the sundown start of Hanukkah, ended with Pete Czerwinski, 23, besting 10 other eaters for the title of champion and setting a world record recognized by the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters, Newsday reported.

Arnie Chapman, chairman of the association, said Czerwinski devoured the previous record of 31 latkes, which was set by Massachusetts eater Tom "Goose" Gilbert in 2006.

Czerwinski, who took home a $300 prize, said the secret to his starch-stuffing success is a lack of communication between his brain and his stomach.

"I'm just a power eater. My brain never signals that I'm full," said Czerwinski, described as a muscular 6-foot-2 college student who had never eaten a latke before.

Second place went to Will Millender, a 380-pound Brooklyn college student who ate 29 latkes.


St. Louis without any actual mistletoe

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Merchants and suppliers in St. Louis say people seeking real mistletoe this year are out of luck, as the kissing aid is missing in action.

Baisch & Skinner Inc. President John Baisch said the lack of the bough-and-berry combination is due to waning interest in the traditional holiday fare used to provoke Christmas kisses, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said.

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"There are just no calls for it anymore," the head of the Florists' Row wholesaler said. "Really, it's a thing of the past. It's just one of those traditions that have gone by the wayside."

Florist Chuck Knoll agreed that fresh-cut mistletoe has not been a strong holiday seller for years, leading him to only carry a silk version of the traditional item.

Dr. Anthony Scalzo of Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center suggested the decline in actual mistletoe interest could be due to its mistaken reputation for toxicity.

"Overall, it is really not as toxic as some have claimed," Scalzo, medical director of the hospital's poison center, told the Post-Dispatch. "You'd have to eat a lot of it to be in any serious danger."

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