A Special Message from Mrs. Claus

Happy New Year, friends! As you know, Santa typically writes to you at the beginning of each St. Nick's News (his name is in the title, after all), but I bumped the big guy aside this time to convey two very special messages, which I wanted to deliver myself. First, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your participation in my 1st Annual Photo Contest! Every year, we receive such great photos, videos and story submissions through our website, Facebook and Twitter, but I had no idea how strong the participation would be if we organized a contest. Your efforts produced 1176 entries — so many that Santa had to get his Internet Elves to add more server space for his favorite website! And my goodness were the photos spectacular. From Elfcapades to family gatherings to adorable portraits of children and their best Elf friends, I can't tell you how many times our eyes welled with tears of joy at the sight of our Elves making memories in your homes. Thank you, again. This is hopefully the start of a new chapter to our Timeless Christmas Tradition that will continue for many more years to come!

Of course, this is a contest after all, so despite how many incredible photos we received, our special committee still had to narrow the entries down to a group of finalists. This was one of the most difficult tasks ever undertaken at the North Pole — and that's saying a lot! But, as you likely read on Facebook, the amazing quality of your entries caused us to reconsider how many finalists would make the cut. As such, we increased the number of would-be finalists from 20 to 70! We also decided to group these photos into categories, from which three winners will be chosen from each. So, instead of three winners total, a Grand Prize, Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up winner will claim victory in each of the 7 categories, which are:

• Me and My Elf

• There's Snow Place Like Home

• On the Go

• Cooking Up Some Magic

• Elfchievous Elfcapades™

• Just Chillin'

• We R Family

Each Grand Prize winner will receive a Giant Elf of his/her choice; each Runner-Up will receive a Magic Elf of his/her choice; and each Second Runner-Up will receive a SnowCase™ or a Book and DVD Set!

Remember, our committee chose the finalists, but YOU choose the winners! The three photos that receive the most "Likes" in each category will be our victors! And the voting starts now, so hop on over to Facebook to view the 70 finalists! The "polls" will close at midnight on January 12th, after which the winners will be notified... as if they won't know already :)

On a final note, we wanted to let you know that you can still expect to receive the 2010 wrap-up edition of St. Nick's News in the middle of next week! A yearly tradition, this edition will include coverage of the annual "Snow Ball and Dinner Dance," Reindeer Games and a special feature on the winners of the 1st Annual Photo Contest!

As always, we are "Thankful" for your time and for sharing the Elf Magic Tradition with us each year - it is such a blessing to us. Until next time, please remember to continue sharing your Elves' adventures on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and if you know a friend or family member who would love Elf Magic, please forward this SNN! (If you don't want to receive future editions of SNN, simply click the 'SafeUnsubscribe' link at the bottom).

I hope you find the magic of Christmas in your everyday!