All I want for Christmas is...

By JOSH NEWTON
Staff Writer

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS December 18, 2008 09:48 am

— Santa, we know you recently renewed your Tahlequah Daily Press subscription, so when you’re reading this, please don’t sack up all your presents just yet. A few Tahlequah children forgot some things!
“Well, I want stilts, but I forgot to put that on my list,” said Greenwood Elementary first-grader Gideon Buchleiter. “There’s also this really cool Star Wars voice-change helmet.”
Gideon says he and his father really like Star Wars, so there are a few other Star Wars items he would like for Christmas. Describing them is the best Gideon can do on some – he’s not sure exactly what they’re called – so Santa, he’s counting on you to know.
“It’s kind of hard for me to explain [what Christmas means],” said Gideon. “It’s about Jesus’ birth, and spending time with my family, especially my dad. Me and him are just the buddies in the family.”
Greenwood first-grader Maggie Reasor, who wants Santa to pick her out a Wii game system, says Christmas means spending “lots of time” with family.
“It means love and generosity,” said Maggie.
First-grader Dylan Parish, another Greenwood student, is hoping for a Star Wars gun that blinks and makes sounds. He’s also a Dallas Cowboy football fan, and anticipates unwrapping an NFL game for his Playstation 2.
“My mom makes a party, and invites people, and a lot of people eat dinner and have a good time,” said Dylan. “We usually play games. The girls go play a game, or watch TV in my room. Sometimes I play with my Playstation, and sometimes I play with my G.I. Joe. Sometimes we play hide-and-go-seek.”
Amarantha Lewkowski, another first-grader from Greenwood, is looking for another Barbie doll to add to her collection. She has 16 of them right now, and this Christmas, she doesn’t want anything but one more doll.
“Christmas means a happy holiday because we get to have fun with all our Christmas presents and all our parents,” said Amarantha.
Over at Cherokee Elementary, kindergartners are well-prepared for Christmas.
Cameron Burchett is asking Santa for the “Incredibles” video game. He always sees the advertisement on his “Incredibles” movie, and feels like it’s time he gets the game, too.
“Christmas means a lot ‘cause Santa comes,” said Cameron. “I do leave cookies, but he doesn’t finish all of them.”
Cameron says Santa only likes chocolate chip cookies and only drinks “regular milk” to dip them in.
Andrew Werty wants Santa to bring him some Iron Man and Spiderman toys.
“And a guitar, to play music,” said Werty. “So I can have fun at Christmas.”
Angel Quezada says his sister has a camera, so he wants one, too.
“So I can take pictures of my dogs,” said Angel.
Stella Aldridge is hoping for a unicorn.
“Well, just a little toy one,” she said. “And I like Christmas because it’s fun. My little sister helps me.”
Then there’s Maggie Brewer, another kindergartner from Cherokee, who only wants a Barbie coloring book. For her, Christmas is mostly about seeing family, she says.
“You get to go see your grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins,” said Maggie.
Pre-kindergarten students at Sequoyah Elementary have a big wish list of presents this year. Many girls are hoping for doll houses, Barbies and Teddy bears. For the boys, Guitar Hero, Iron Man, Spiderman and Transformers are popular toys on their lists.
“Elves put the presents in Santa’s bag,” said Clair Bennett.
Students had a brief discussion about whether Santa brings presents to adults. Some said no, and others said he does.
“Santa gives some things to grown-ups,” said Courtney Caforia.
Zane Hendrix pointed out that dads have bigger stockings than others.
“My dad has a bigger stocking, too,” said Zane.
Seamus Richardson doesn’t want to be vague when asking Santa for his Christmas presents.
“We’ve already made our lists for Santa,” he pointed out.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t offer a quick reminder, just for goodness’ sake.
“I want 26 T-Rex toys and 26 jeeps,” said Seamus. “Twenty-six.”

Tell us about it
Children all across Cherokee County, from many different schools and many different age groups, have written letters to Santa this year. Some of those can be seen in today’s paper, and many more will run from now until Christmas. If you haven’t dropped off your letter to Santa at the Daily Press office yet, you can do so until Friday, Dec. 19, at 106 W. Second St. A very special “Santa letter” mailbox is available in the front lobby for just this occasion. You can also mail letters to Santa, care of the Daily Press, at P.O. Box 888, Tahlequah, Okla., 74465, and we’ll forward them to the North Pole after we publish them. But hurry: Santa needs a little time to check his list twice, and make sure everyone’s been nice.

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