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>> From gigantic Christmas trees and well pressed mall Santa's to
carriage rides through traffic and endless strings of twinkling
lights, urban centers like Spokane & Coeur d' Alene do
their best to dress up for the holidays each year.. The intent
is twofold, one to get us in the holiday mood and the other to
get us to buy because in the land of retail the spirit of
Christmas means "big business." Fortunately, the spirit of
Christmas doesnt' stop there for it is one with
many layers that when peeled back from all the
non-stop holiday hype on the surface what's left are
numerous people and organizations who,
in the spirit of Christmas, are doing extrordinary
work for their community. One such charitable organization
is Northwest North Pole Adventures, often referred
to as one of Spokane's best kept secrets... [Steve Paul] The
mission of the charity is to bring back the magical
experiences of childhood Christmases to children who are
placed in situations where that doesn't happen. Our thought is,
if your life is raised in a sense of poverty or
homelessness, or some sort of displacement your, holiday
memories as an adult aren't there. You have nothing to draw
back on when you're building the life of the people around you
now. And to us that's, a sad state of humanity. And so our
mission is to implant, hopefully this seed of happy, unbelievable
magical memories of Christmas, so that when you talk about it
as adult you'll say, you know, when I was a little kid I think
I went to the North Pole. You know, and I had Elf, and I
remember their name, and it was great. That's our mission.
>>Since 1998 over a thousand children from around the region
have had the opportunity to take a journey of a lifetime, a
fanciful trip to the home of Santa, the North Pole. For the
charity's founders, Melanie Lubeck and Leslie Lathrop, what
started as a relatively small event, first with united
airlines and now with Alaska Airlines since 2008, has evolved
into a Christmas event unlike any other. [Leslie Lathrop]
We're I think the word is off the hook. Everybody wanted to
push the creativity a little bit more, little bit more, little
bit more until it became what it is. But, we've stayed in the
same outline since the very beginning. Melanie and I wanted
to get some kids some warm clothes, some pajamas, and some
things to keep them warm. That's what we wanted to do. So we
stared in a tiny room over at the airport. And that's where
the first two years we had the fantasy flight. But we were kind
of shoving the occupancy of the space, and it was so crowded.
And that's when we decided, well, I'll come over here to
this side of the airport and look for a hangar. I think we
change our kids' lives because we spend so much time with those
children. And it's not about the gifts or even the warm clothes.
And I didn't know this at first. This was something I learned
real quick. >>It's something the organization's current
president, Steve Paul learned quickly too, both as an elf in
training from 2000 to 2005 and then even more so in 2006 when
he became "Bernie" the chief elf in charge.[Steve Paul] In
today's world the true heart and spirit of Christmas is easily
lost. It's easily forgotten. Ah you know, for me as I tell
everyone, I'm an elf. "The Kitchen is full of cookies. Come
on I'll show you." You know, being an elf, ah, being a part
of all of this, is remembering that Christmas is a spirit. And
so being in this event it makes that more visible to me every
day. And I hope it makes it more visible to our donors. I know it
does to our volunteers. "Welcome Santa and Misses Claus." >>The
challenge each year for the Northwest North Pole Adventure
charity is to deliver a fantasy flight experience better than
the year before. And by all accounts version twenty thirteen
(2013) achieved its goal. It began with the selection of
children in November and then culminated in a spectacular two
day event on the second Friday & Saturday of December.
[Steve Paul] So choosing the children we work with
the agencies, and we ask them for children
between the ages of 4 and 10. They can
only attend the North Pole once in a lifetime we ask the
agencies to really try to find us the kids that have lost the
spirit of Christmas. We then collect sizing information,
health information, gift information, what would they
like from Santa. >>With some 66 children selected and a full
year of preparation behind them all that was left for Chief
Bernie and his merry band of elves to do, following a
spirited donor celebration the night before, was to carry out
their mission... sharing the joy of Christmas with children in
need. [Steve Paul] Saturday morning starts pretty early
When you check in as an elf, you go through
a security check. You're assigned your elf name, and you
are badged appropriately so that we know who you are, and broken
into various teams and roles. The children are broken into
five color teams. And so those five color groups then are
assigned both children and elves. >>Once the elf
registration process was completed the elves were fed a
hearty lunch and then briefed by Chief Elf "Bernie" on what to
expect during what promised to be a magical day. [Steve Paul] I
do a lot of helping them tap into their emotion and
understand how to control it, because many times there are
things that are said or heard that to an adult are extremely
disturbing. And it is our, natural response to want to fix
it. And I have to help people understand, this isn't a day
that we're going to fix things, this is a day we're going to
create memories. And then it's a matter of transportation at that
point. Ah, in the beginning of the transportation we actually
send the advance elves, the elite squad, down to the shelter
where all of the agencies consolidate, so we have a single
pick up point. >>While "Bernie" and the advanced elves were in
route to pick up the children all the other elves headed to
the airport. There they anxiously awaited the arrival of
the children and at the same time got their elf on...[Steve
Paul] That is their time to start being an elf. Once they
arrive at the Alaska Terminal they are an elf. So if you are a
lucky passenger who happens to be departing Spokane at that
time, be prepared, you're going to get elfed. Early afternoon
then there is the arrival, as we will call it. "Look what I got."
The child and the elf meet. And many times it's an instant bond,
most times it's a friendly hello and then their elf helps them
kind of understand how they're going to move through. One of
the very first things they get is their North Pole Passport,
and they have their picture taken. So within their passport
then, they're able to capture signatures, because this
passport becomes a memory book for them. It's actually a tool
for us in that many children are very introverted; they don't
really know how to approach people. And so, it starts kind
of unwrapping that barrier of, I can have fun! Then, as a team,
they will pass through TSA screening. Once they get through
they get upstairs the passport is reviewed, it's stamped valid
to the North Pole. If they don't believe by now, well we still
have a few more catches for them. Ah, the airport HMS Host
people provide them a nice lunch. We're never certain
whether they have ate for the day or not, And then a little
gate activity, a little excitement. It's kind of an
exciting day at the Spokane Airport. And then we call for
the Flight 1225 boarding and they board a chartered 737 bound
for the North Pole. The flight becomes officially Santa 1, when
I walk on board. About half way through the pilot lets me know
we're at the North Pole Barrier ah, we have a magic chant that
helps us through... [Magic Chant] "Off to the North Pole,
off we fly where dreams come true to Spokane Goodbye." And
with that, the pilot accelerates the engines and we pass through
the North Pole Barrier. When we're here,
the Elves are on the red carpet. Ah, they get a true
Hollywood arrival at the North Pole. And then we arrive at the
Great Door. "There is only one key to the North Pole and Santa
holds it except for one day and WE HAVE IT! And with this key we
open the North Pole.
Welcome we're home!" >>What the kids quickly
discovered upon entering the North Pole was the fact that
they were not in Spokane anymore. All around were fun
activities of every kind from ornament making to face
painting. There were delightful specialty shops like Frosty's
Closet where they received a pair of pajamas and Mrs.
Clause's Kitchen where cookies were made with their names. They
even got a chance to visit Magic Mountain and share a hug or two
with Mrs. Clause. In the end though, it was their private
meeting with Santa followed by story time that made the night
complete...
[Steve Paul] Of course comes out of the
fireplace, well how else would he come to the North
Pole, and we see love with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
She tucks him in with his blanket and at that point, she
gets the children ready to read them a story. You know, they
don't have blankets or pillows, or they even have a book. And so
from out of the wings come all of the elves with a bag, a
pillow, a blanket and the Polar Express hard copy book. So we
nestle them all down and she reads them the story. Ahm the
story gives us one of our mission pieces, which is at the
end, when the little boy realizes that he has lost the
bell and Santa brings it to him in the box. And he, understand
the message of the story, which is, always believe and don't let
this memory go away. At that point it's time for Santa to get
to bed and so Mrs. Claus and Santa leave, the elves help the
children collect all of their belongings from the day and the
special elf delivery system kicks in.
The children are transported through the magic transporter.
Out of that are limousines,
which are waiting to take the children back to that
central shelter where we started. Ah meanwhile, the magic
elf delivery is ahead of them, so that when they arrive at
their home shelter, no matter where that will be, their gift
is waiting for them. >>With the last of the children now on
their way home and into the night there was little doubt
they would always remember this fantasy flight. For Bernie and
his elves while their job was done, what will last forever for
them and all who were there are special memories of Christmas
delivered and shared.
[Larry Soehren/Shorty the Elf] Obviously it's great
for the kids, it's just really great to see our community
come out and do this much for those kids.
[Nicole Kalil / Snowy the Elf] I feel like I got to be a
part of a joyous occasion that's just going to create so many
memories and just put the faith and belief in the human spirit
and it's amazing it really is.
[Jeffrey Adams / Boots the Elf] We have a lot of kids
that come into this event, they're really closed off,
they're uh, they're coming in experiencing things that
many of us don't experience, and we give them that opportunity
to become kids again.
[Tiffany Korver / Sporty the Elf] It's seeing Christmas
through a whole different light
and seeing Christmas through a little 5 year
old girls eyes that really doesn't have a lot and you have
this opportunity of one whole day that you get to be with them
and you get to make all their wishes come true it's powerful,
I wouldn't miss it for the world, ever ever again,
I'm going to do it every single year.
[Steve Paul] I have always said,
Santa's flight will always happen as long
as there are children that need it. And I'm proud
of it in a city that can make it happen. I mean, we're in
a very unique position in Spokane to be able to create a
universal magic and show the world the heart of Christmas.