When Holy Dwyer was asked to read a Christmas story at the regular Milk and Bookies event in Grand Falls-Windsor she was given a choice.
A councillor with Grand Falls-Windsor, Dwyer could have her pick of any of the iconic Christmas stories that already exist or she could come up with one of her own.
Since she dabbles in poetry of her own from time to time, she chose to produce her own holiday story with a local twist. Dwyer had been writing poems for the last 15 years, getting started as a way to help her daughters and their friends during the speech section of the local Kiwanis Music Festival.
“I love it,” she said of writing. “You can be creative and humourous at the same time.”
Her Christmas story has Santa Claus performing a test run prior to Christmas Eve only to encounter some trouble above Grand Falls-Windsor.
He and his reindeer were resting for a spell on the mill bridge in the community when Santa took a sneezing fit. This startled the reinder and sent presents hurtling into the Exploits River.
Fearing lost, Santa calls Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Barry Manuel for help. After receiving it, Santa gets help from the Grand Falls-Windsor Fire Department and town mascot Sammy the Salmon to save Christmas.
Over two days starting on Dec. 15, Dwyer debuted her story to two different reading events. Armed with a power point featuring illustrations of her neighbour Terry Wicks and some Christmas tunes, Dwyer made brought some early Christmas cheer to children in the region.
There was an entire production behind her story time. Aside from the presentation, she had arranged to have Manuel — figuring he plays a prominent role in the poem — to call and interact with the story. She also arranged to have the Sammy the Salmon, Santa Claus and members of the fire department take part in the event.
Along the way, Dwyer asked her young audiences to offer suggestions how Santa could retrieve the lost presents.
One girl suggested a submarine.
When the man in the red suit and Sammy showed up, there was squealing, plenty of cheers and gifts for those in attendance.
There was also the customary pictures with Santa.
“I wanted it to be interactive,” said Dwyer. “Both events went really great.”
Well first of all WELCOME to Milk and Bookies!
I’m really happy you’re all here!
There’s nothing like a good Christmas story
To help spread Christmas Cheer!
But unfortunately, I’ve got both good news and bad-
Hmmm…which will I tell you first?
Let’s get the bad news out of the way-
It really is THE WORST
You’ve probably heard it about it on NTV News
It’s on the cover of Central Voice too…
“Santa’s Gifts Can’t be Delivered!
What’s the bearded guy to do?”
You see, earlier this morning
While completing a standard test flight
Santa was flying over Grand Falls-Windsor
When Rudolph got a fright!
Apparently they were landing on the Mill Bridge
When totally out of the blue
Santa got in a fit of sneezing
And let out the BIGGEST
“AHHHHHHH CHOOOOOOOO!”
Cupid and Vixen both froze-dead in their tracks
But Dasher tried to…well…dash,
Blitzen fell over on Donner and Prancer-
…the result was a full-blown sleigh crash!
The presents flew out of Santa’s sack
Into the Exploits River below…
Instead of being his jolly old self,
Santa exclaimed, “OH! OH! OH!”
“How will I ever deliver presents?” he cried,
“If they’re drifting down the river?”
“Christmas just won’t be the same,” said Rudolph
“If we have nothing to deliver!”
The presents were floating for a little while
But Santa feared the worst
“By the time they reach Gorge Park,” he thought,
“They’re gonna be submersed!”
Now Santa’s reindeer are famous for having mad skills
But the situation was looking quite grim-
‘cause there was one thing those animals couldn’t do-
The reindeer could not swim!
They could dance and sing – and even skate…
Of course the could fly (as everyone knows) –
But swimming’s not popular in the North Pole
‘Cause up there all the water is froze!
So that’s it guys-that’s my bad news-
It really is a tragedy!
So to get the presents from the Exploits
We’re gonna need a clever strategy!
Oh wait!... that just gave me an idea
But I’ll need authorization from the Mayor
I don’t think it’ll be a problem
I mean, you’re all practically, basically tax payers
So I have Mayor Manuel’s number
Let’s give him an emergency call-
“Mayor Manuel-there might not be Christmas
We need help from the Town Hall!”
Barry says:
You can deploy all the Town’s resources
We’ll do whatever it takes to assist…
As long as none of the children
Are on Santa’s Naughty list!
Thanks Mayor!
I have the list here-
I’m checking it twice
And I’m happy to report-
You’re not naughty! You’re nice!
We’ll need a Search and Rescue Vehicle-
And a REALLY fantastic swimmer
I happen to know someone perfect!
There is hope-well, just a glimmer!
I think we need positive energy
So let’s sing a Christmas song
Maybe it will bring us some much needed luck
I hope we don’t have to wait long
(Sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town)
Still the children waited anxiously
Then came the flashing lights!!!
Citizens could hear children cheering
Way up on Grenfell Heights!
They were waiting to see if Christmas was saved-
And who could be the hero
Who would ever be able to go in the river
With temperatures reaching sub-zero?
Then the door opened and the hero stepped out
The children all shouted “hooray!!”
The gifts were retrieved –(thank goodness!)
Sammy the Salmon saved the day!
So the lesson that Sammy’d like for you
To take from this today
Is that everyone’s good at something
And where there’s a will there's a way!
Merry Christmas!
