Santa Clause will make an early visit to the St. Bernards Fun Forest at The Mall at Turtle Creek Saturday, Dec. 3. He will be the reader for the December Stories in the Forest program.
The time for this month’s Stories program has been changed to 11 a.m. so Santa and the other Red Wolves fans will be able to attend the ASU football game.
Santa will read two Little Golden Books – Frosty the Snow Man and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
The story of Frosty the Snow Man is a holiday staple, though Christmas is not specifically mentioned. Frosty made his debut in 1950 as a follow-up to the 1949 Gene Autry Christmas hit “Rudophh The Red Nosed Reindeer.” It was written by Jacxk Rollins and Steve Nelson and recorded by Autrey.
The character became a favorite before the Frosty the Snow Man Little Golden Book was published in 1951. Since that time the book has remained a children’s favorite – and it’s been followed by a series of television specials.
Frosty has become a symbol for the magic of Christmas.
The Twelve Days of Christmas also is a Little Golden Book. Published in 1963, the book is based on the English Christmas carol that was published in England in the late 1700s, though the song apparently is older than the printed version and may actually have been French in origin. The song was imported to the United States in 1910.
Just like the song, the book is a cumulative story, with each verse built on previous verses. It incorporates gifts of drummers drumming, pipers piping, lords-a-leaping, ladies dancing, maids-a-milking, swans-a-swimming, geese-a-laying, gold rings, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves … and a partridge in a pear tree.
The Stories in the Forest program gives parents some quality time with their children and exposes children to some favorite books of local residents. It is an outgrowth of the St. Bernards Women’s Advisory Council’s tremendously successful Kidz Fun Fair.
The Women’s Advisory Council is a group of about 120 area women who have joined together in an advisory role to give input on important healthcare issues impacting women and children. They encourage educational as well as service outreach efforts designed to make Jonesboro a better place to live, work and raise families.
The program is open to the interested public free of charge.