{"id":7664,"date":"2012-12-21T18:02:26","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T23:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/?p=7664"},"modified":"2012-12-24T04:33:30","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T09:33:30","slug":"norad-ready-to-track-santas-arrival-in-framingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.framingham.com\/news\/2012\/12\/21\/arts-culture\/norad-ready-to-track-santas-arrival-in-framingham\/","title":{"rendered":"NORAD Ready to Track Santa's Arrival in Framingham"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2012<\/a>

2012 NORAD Santa Tracker<\/p><\/div>\n

FRAMINGHAM, MA<\/strong> - Months become weeks, weeks become days, and as December 25th approaches, children's questions like; \"How long until Christmas?<\/em>\", and \"Are you sure Santa knows where our house is?<\/em>\", come with increasing frequency.<\/p>\n

Thanks to NORAD, (the North American Aerospace Defense Command<\/em>), kids of all ages can track Santa's travels on Christmas Eve with radar accuracy -- and spend time on the NORAD Santa Tracker Website playing games and enjoying other activities while they wait for the jolliest elf<\/em> to arrive.<\/p>\n

\"2012<\/a>

The Countdown Calendar has all kids of games and activities on the 2012 NORAD Santa Tracker website<\/p><\/div>\n

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In the \"Activities\" section of the website is a Countdown Calendar.\u00a0 Starting on December 1st, each day of the month brings a new activity.<\/p>\n

Kids can click on the numbers on the Countdown Calendar to access new, free online Christmas themed games.<\/p>\n

Games include classics like Word-Find, and Tetris-like games that require hand-eye coordination.\u00a0 Most games have several levels from \"EASY\" to \"VERY HARD\" so even the youngest kids can play.<\/p>\n

History of the NORAD Santa Tracker:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"1955

1955 Sears Christmas Ad mistakenly publishes U.S. Air Force \/ CONAD phone number, encourages kids to call Santa.<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1955, a U.S. Air Force agency called \"CONAD\", (the Continental Air Command)<\/em>, had it's phone number, (ME2-6681<\/strong>), mistakenly published in Christmas ad for the Sears Roebuck store in Colorado Springs, CO.<\/p>\n

The ad encouraged kids to call the number to talk to Santa.<\/p>\n

In the spirit of Christmas, CONAD Operations Director, Col. Harry Shoup had staff give children updates on Santa's location.<\/p>\n

Three years later, the United States and Canada formed NORAD, and the agency decided to follow Col. Shoup's lead, and made the \"Santa Hotline\" a favorite annual event for the agency.<\/p>\n

From 1955 to 1996, the \"Santa Tracker\" was a call-in telephone hotline and newspapers,\u00a0radio and television programs promoted it to children across the country.<\/p>\n

In 1997, Santa went high-tech, and the agency created the NORAD Santa Tracker website -- which has been updated over the past 15 years to include \"live satellite tracking\" and fun, interactive activities for kids.<\/p>\n

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