The City of Alma recently recongnized 16 employees for 240 years of combined service.  We also acknowledged 32 employees for receiving the Attendance Merit Award.  Thank you all for your dedicated service to the City of Alma and the Alma Community. 

• The first toy advertised on television was Mr. Potato Head® in 1952. Parents had to provide children with a real potato for the body until Hasbro introduced the hard plastic body in 1964.
• Due to the time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts. This means that he visits 832 homes each second!
• If you received all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", you would receive 364 presents.
• The poinsettia plant was brought into the United States from Mexico by Joel Poinsett in the early 1800's.
• Contrary to common belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic.
• Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas as an official holiday. It was recognized as a national holiday in America on June 26, 1870.
• Rudolph, the legendary reindeer of Santa Claus, was a creation of Montgomery Ward. He created it for the purpose of a holiday promotion in the late 1930s.
• America's official national Christmas tree is located in King's Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree," is over 300 feet (90 meters) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
• Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in "A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam.
• Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life.
• During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5,340 times every minute in the United States.
• Frustrated at the lack of interest in his new toy invention, Charles Pajeau hired several midgets, dressed them in elf costumes, and had them play with "Tinker Toys" in a display window at a Chicago department store during the Christmas season in 1914. This publicity stunt made the construction toy an instant hit. A year later, over a million sets of Tinker Toys had been sold.
• Long before it was used as a "kiss encourager" during the Christmas season, mistletoe had long been considered to have magic powers by Celtic and Teutonic peoples. It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits.
• More diamonds are purchased at Christmas-time than during any other holiday or occasion during the year.
• More than three billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the United States.