{"id":12805,"date":"2015-12-09T12:48:46","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T17:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=12805"},"modified":"2015-12-21T18:26:59","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T23:26:59","slug":"inside-aurora-twas-two-weeks-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-twas-two-weeks-before-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: ‘Twas Two Weeks Before Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Twas two weeks before Christmas, and at the North Pole
\nSanta sat between sacks full of toys and of coal
\nWork was progressing but again without fail
\nThere was the usual rush of last-minute mail<\/p>\n

He reached for a letter with a fancy font
\nAnd found it was postmarked from \u201cAurora, Ont\u201d
\nHe opened the envelope with a twinge of fear,
\n\u2018Cause requests from this small town got stranger each year<\/p>\n

He remembered one plea from not long ago
\nTo restore the popular Aurora Horse Show
\nHe had never been averse to bringing it back
\nBut could not figure how it could fit in his sack<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease bring a new toy or game\u201d, that ask would be nice
\nSanta thought as he read once, then read again twice
\nHe found it hard to believe, what they had to say
\nThey didn\u2019t want things given, but taken away<\/p>\n

Santa soon grasped this not a joke or a con
\nThe town\u2019s supermailboxes they wanted them gone
\nThrown out or recycled they were welcome no more
\nFolks wanted delivery restored to their door<\/p>\n

A request like this one had never been versed,
\nEven when that cell tower went up near Bathurst
\nHe was sure its removal would be on order
\nBut folks got used to it over their border<\/p>\n

He wondered what prompted this latest entreat
\nWas the writer too lazy to walk a few feet?
\nBut an outcome of agreeing caused him to fret
\nThis was a big precedent that would be set<\/p>\n

\u2018Cause the way Santa worked, legally speaking
\nMeant rules around which he was skillfully deeking
\nWhile breaking in to leave gifts was felt to be fine
\nStealing public property stepped o\u2019er the line <\/p>\n

But apart from the theft a test to be solved
\nWas mailboxes were big, there was planning involved.
\nIf they hit Aurora last that would be okay
\nBecause at least there would be more room in the sleigh<\/p>\n

But his own reputation he hated to taint
\nBecause to millions of children old Nick was a saint
\nTaking a cookie or two personified Claus
\nNot stealing with cutting tools, blow torches and saws<\/p>\n

Santa sat back in his chair, and pondered a bit
\nTo solve a challenge this great would require some wit
\nThere must be a way to make folks feel of good cheer
\nWithout Nick doing jail time for most of the year<\/p>\n

Then a thought gave his spirits a well-deserved lift
\nInstead of stealing mailboxes he\u2019d give out e-gifts
\n\u201cCell phones, ipads, and gadgets\u201d, Santa Claus sighed
\n\u201cWill keep Aurorans linked without going outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston \u2018Twas two weeks before Christmas, and at the North Pole Santa sat between sacks full of toys and of coal Work was progressing but again without fail There was the usual rush of last-minute mail He reached for a letter with a fancy font And found it was postmarked from \u201cAurora, Ont\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-3kx","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-15 13:35:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}