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Holiday activities<br>provide nice moments

Over the span of 52 weeks each year, there are certain times that tend to be busier than others when it comes to newspaper coverage.

Last week was one such occasion. There were Christmas-related activities nearly every day and in the newsrack edition of the News, you'll find the results of that coverage.

From going to a school board meeting that had been moved up to Monday night through the Christmas carolers in the airport housing area on Sunday night, there was plenty of work to be done.

But although I had computer problems on Wednesday and frozen pipes on Sunday, there were some nice moments over the week.

o Monday, 8:45 p.m. — After covering the Grand Canyon School Board meeting, I headed out to Tusayan to pick up Brandon. It had been snowing hard all day and the roads were a bit slick. But while picking up Brandon at the end of what had been a hectic day, his sitter invited me to sit down.

Although it may seem insignificant to most people, it was nice to just sit there for a few minutes and chat with these folks about a simple thing like baseball trades. I actually would've enjoyed watching the game (Monday Night Football was on) but the kid had school the next morning.

o Tuesday, 6:30 a.m. — Waking up for the day, I ran out to the living room to peek outside. Yes, there was a lot of snow out there. Brandon could get some extra sleep. I called 2461 and there was a pleasant voice informing me that classes would be beginning late.

What did I do? What else, I went back to bed for another hour.

o Tuesday, 1:45 p.m. — The snow was coming down pretty good when Santa Claus arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park Airport. Although he usually lands in a helicopter, the poor weather forced St. Nick to catch a ride on a fire engine. The kids didn't seem to mind and greeted him enthusiastically at the fence.

After a few songs, hanging ornaments on the tree and chatting with Santa, the first-graders stopped by a snack table put together by the airport's Joanne O'Connor.

While taking photos, Brandon informed a few of his classmates that I'm good at opening soda pop cans. A newspaper man's duties never cease.

o Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. — I was looking forward to covering the school's high school/middle school winter concert. A new band director was now in place and promos for the event promised something different.

Folks were not disappointed with an entertaining evening. I had several favorite moments, but those standing out the most to me was a saxophone solo of "The Christmas Song" by Andrew Keske and the comical surprise appearance by Dan Lopez singing "Comin' To Town Blues."

I think it was the best winter concert I had seen in my three years here at Grand Canyon.

o Thursday, 6:30 p.m. — The middle-schoolers put on their annual play and went with a different format this year. The kids wrote and acted out skits from various television programs.

I had my favorite moments with this school program as well. David Robinson dressing up as Alice from the Brady Bunch was a riot. Brenton Booth was a good Gilligan and I thought Sean McClelland did a good job in the "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" skit.

But you know what I'll remember most? While sitting on the floor with the kids in front of the stage, I realized my body was making cracks and creaks. I looked up at Jon Streit and said, "I'm getting too old for this."

Maybe it was the fact that it was my birthday on Thursday, but I was feeling old at that moment. Jon said there was plenty of room on the bench and he and his wife slid down a few feet to give me room.

Again, simple gesture, but it made my task of shooting photos that night a lot easier.

o Saturday, 11:15 a.m. — Brandon was sitting on his fourth Santa lap Saturday morning (he gets to see St. Nick a lot while hanging out with me on the job) at Canyon View Marketplace.

It was a nice gesture by Delaware North this year. The decorations were awesome, with Christmas trees on both sides of Santa. And store employees were shooting photos of the kids (and adults) with Santa.

The photos were free, but they weren't Polaroids. These were high-quality photos that were processed on the spot in the store's lab. The shot of Brandon with Santa (and his toy Batman) will go in the photo album.

In all, I shot 190 photos of Christmas and news events last week. It was a lot of work, but the nice moments made it worthwhile. I saw a lot of holiday spirit in our community. And that was best of all.

(Brad Fuqua is editor of the Grand Canyon News).


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