Santa Announces Sleigh Contest Naming Winner

Every year Santa uses a new sleigh for his Christmas flight and every year he holds a contest to name the sleigh. The sleigh always has a girl’s name and Santa always selects the name he feels best fits the sleigh. He always waits until the last minute, when the reindeer are hitched to the sleigh and it is loaded and ready to fly.

Santa just stepped to a microphone hastily set up before the waiting crowd at the North Pole. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Santa said. “Thank you for your hard work on Operation Merry Christmas 2011. As a sign that all that hard work is about to pay off, I’d like to announce that this year’s sleigh will be named…Molly… a name submitted by Mia Sundell of Brisbane, Australia…just the other day. I chose this name for two reasons: the name Molly means “Star of the Sea” and with this sleigh there is no doubt that I will break a new record tonight while I am at sea over the Pacific. You can take that to the bank!”

As Santa said this, a loud cheer went up from the sleigh boys in the Research and Development Department.

“But more importantly,” Santa said, “The name Molly is a pet name for someone named Mary, a form of the name Mary. I find Mary to be a Christmas name, as the mother of Jesus, and somehow it seems appropriate that we have a sleigh named Molly in her honor.”

Everyone clapped as Santa announced the name. And with that, Santa is now making one final look at everything on the sleigh and speaking to all the reindeer individually. He will be taking off very soon.

— Elf Ernest

Bedtime Warnings: South Pacific islands, New Zealand, Wake Island, Fiji and Tonga.