Dec. 23, 2025

What to leave Santa Claus under the tree this year

Show Notes
Transcript

Thousands participated in the San Diego Santa Run, with the event setting a new record. In Honolulu, Christmas-themed pop-up bars offer festive drinks and decor, while New Jersey braces cold temperatures. Massachusetts nonprofit Operation Service delivers free Christmas trees to military families. 'Tab for a Cause,' a browser extension, raises funds for charities through ad revenue every time a new tab is opened. Traditions from around the world for leaving treats for Santa on Christmas Eve are also highlighted.

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Caloroga Shark Media hey er Johnny Mack who with our

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final five good News Christmas Stories of twenty twenty five.

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Were you in San Diego? Did you see eight thousand runners, walkers,

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and families dressed as Santa Claus. It was the thirteenth

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annual San Diego Santa Run, one of San Diego's most

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anticipated holiday traditions. The event combines fitness and competition with

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seasonal fanfare. Race director Eric said the Santa Run is

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the best day of the year at Pacific Beach, twenty

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twenty five is our largest event in event history. After

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the race, everybody heads over to the Pacific Beach Holiday Parade.

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That's a lot of fun. Meanwhile, in Honolulu, it's the

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annual invasion of Christmas pop up bars. If you're looking

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to get a drink in the next few days, hit

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the Christmas Bar inside Tiki's Grill and barn Y ki Ki.

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This one's famous for its Florida ceiling decorations, massive photo ops,

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and sweet holiday drinks like butter beer and the hot

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snowflake mint mocha that sounds delicious. The entire space gets

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transformed into a full blown winter fantasy, complete with festive

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bites and desserts. It's one of the busiest pop ups

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in the city, so expect lines, especially on weekends. It

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runs through December thirtieth. I think it's funny that in

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Hawaii they're fantasizing about being cold. Meanwhile, here in New

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Jersey it's been eighteen degrees for like four weeks. I'd

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want to go to Hawaii. Meanwhile, in Kakaako Aloha, Mama

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Sita has gone full Grinch with the Grinch Miss bar.

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What the restaurant is decked out and bright holiday decor. Okay,

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that's nice. They serve cocktails like these s'mores martini spiked

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hot cocoa jack frost, a neon green Grinch made with

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tequila and sour apple schnapps, and Christmas punch meant for sharing.

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They're open through December thirty first, closing only on Christmas Day. Downtown,

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the tiki speakeasy tucked inside Yours Truly at the Ace

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Hotel becomes Yules Truly isolated there. The cozy hideaway features

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fives but shelty cocktails, including a spiced paar rum drink

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called O Pear Tree. It was also the Coconut Cacao

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North Pole potion and a whiskey for ginger. Gentlemen, if

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you'd like your beverage in a tiny reindeer cup, get

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the jingle Java shot. Dozens of service members and veterans

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that Joint Base Cape cod got an early holiday surprise

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thanks to a Massachusetts based a nonprofit called Operations Service.

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As part of its annual Trees for Soldiers program, volunteers

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delivered free Christmas trees to military families at Otis Air

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National Guard Base. The trees were distributed at no cost

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to local veterans, airmen and soldiers of the Massachusetts National

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Guard and active duty members of the Space Force and Coastguard.

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Operation Service was founded by brothers Mike and Joe. They

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were on hand to help prepare and distribute the trees.

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This all started back in twenty ten, when the Fermani

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family teamed up with the Gardener Spot to donate a

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small number of Christmas trees to local veterans and military families.

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Word got out, things got bigger. Joe said the partnership

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with the one hundre its second intelligence Wing, has been

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essential to the growth, adding that visiting Otis Air National

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Guard Base allows the organization to thank more of the

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men and women who serve. As you do your last

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minute shopping. If you want to give to charity, there

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is a browser extension called Tab for a Cause. Just

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by opening a new browser tab, we're told users around

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the world have helped raise more than two million dollars

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for nonprofit organizations. Tab for a Cause is a free

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browser extension that donates advertising revenue to charity every time

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a user opens a new tab. No purchase has required,

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no extra effort, just your normal Internet browsing. Nonprofit partners

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include Action against Hunger, Conservation, International Water, Dot Org, give Directly,

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Room to Read, the Humane League, and others. And Tomorrow night,

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Christmas Eve, is of course Santa's busiest night of the year,

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and while Americans usually leave out milk and cookies, around

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the world Santa gets some other treats. In Northern Europe,

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especially Denmark and Sweden, children leave out a war rice

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pudding called reason Grod. In England and Ireland, Father Christmas

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against mince eyes, often accompanied by sherry or even a beginness.

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In France and Italy, children might leave a glass of wine.

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In Germany, rathering food, children write and decorate letters for Santa.

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The glitter letters that are left on window sills for

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him to read. In Latvia, children feed Santa's soul by

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reciting a poem in front of the Christmas tree before

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receiving their gifts. In Argentina, kids lay out hay and

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water for Santa's animals and place their shoes nearby. By morning,

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the hay is gone and small gifts appear in its place.

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And in Australia, where Christmas falls in the middle of summer,

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kids leave cookies, but they often pair it with beer.

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Those are five good News Christmas Stories, all right. That'll

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put a wrap on Christmas stories until next year. Five

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Good News Stories continues. I'll take a couple days off

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here for the holidays, and we'll pick up again with

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regular stories on the regular schedule. You have a very,

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very merry Christmas.