Want to try being a secret Santa?
Here are some places where you can donate a gift if you're looking for some Secret Santa practice.
Secret Santa
Sponsored by the Chattahoochee Baptist Association
- When: Donations should be received by Dec. 10 in order for kids to select them from CBA's "toy store"
- Drop-off locations: Chattahoochee Baptist Association, 1220 McEver Road Extension, Gainesville
- More information: Call co-chairwomen Wanda Oliver at 770-967-3970 or Joyce Patrick at 770-967-3560
Ongoing drive for everyday and special items for women and children at My Sister's Place, a shelter in Gainesville
- When: The nonprofit organization is always in need
- More information: Contact North Georgia College & State University students Casey Tiller at 770-262-4019 or Ashleigh Turner at 770-983-5786
National program organized locally by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Hall class
- When: Donations best received by Dec. 5
- Drop-off locations: Boxes are set up throughout Hall County, including at The United Way office at 527 Oak St. in Gainesville, Hall County library locations, the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce office, Chattahoochee Bank of Georgia, Northeast Georgia Surgical Associates, Gainesville fire stations Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and Coldwell Banker on E.E. Butler Parkway
- More information: Call Gail Detraz at 404-226-1783
NORAD tracks Santa: Coming in December, track Santa's every move.
Gift giving can be a struggle, even within families. But it can be a super challenge when the recipient is someone you barely know, if at all.
Such is the case every holiday season when kind-hearted people try to find the right gift as part of Secret Santa endeavors in the workplace or as part of charity outreach efforts.
Who else to consult on this tricky matter but the gift guru himself - Santa Claus. What would he recommend?
"Gift certificates," he said with a hearty laugh.
What? The man so equated with cheery gift-giving and setting brightly wrapped and ribboned boxes under evergreen trees is suggesting gift bearers take the quick exit in finding just the right present?
Isn't that so ho-ho-hum?
Well, as he expands on the answer, it turns out Gainesville's Santa is just keeping up with modern times.
He may live part of the year in the North Pole, but he knows full well about economic hardships facing people around the world.
"First of all, in the current economy, everybody's thinking in terms of that," said Santa, speaking in a phone interview last week before really hitting the road with department-store and parade appearances.
"I think we've had so many choices in the economic good times that I think we've missed the practical points of stuff we really need," Santa said.
Store shelves are full of merchandise that gets bought and handed over as gifts only to be put on another shelf and then forgotten, he added.
"Just the sake of giving a gift is meaningless," Santa said. "... I know it would hurt the retail business, but we need to get back to practicality."
Santa pointed out that he first got in the business of gift giving as the "patron saint of secret giving."
"St. Nicholas would put a coin on the windowsill of a poor family that would have to sell off a child to slavery to eat," he said. "... The piece of gold would be a meal."
So maybe pragmatism should replace cleverness in gift buying.
Santa suggested that as an especially helpful hint when you've drawn the name of someone - say at the office - whose name is all you know.
He said he has gotten presents as simple as socks - yes, Santa gets gifts too, beyond the traditional milk and cookies left near Christmas trees.
"I have gotten them ... and loved it!" he said with his signature from-the-belly laugh.
Also, gloves work nice.
He did add, for those reading perhaps, that "I've gotten more gloves than I can wear for the rest of my life. It's piling up here."
"What really works is if you know a nice restaurant; a gift certificate ... in my household (brightens up) Mrs. Claus," he said.
Joyce Patrick, co-coordinator of the Chattahoochee Baptist Association's Secret Santa event, said teenagers are usually the most difficult demographic to buy for - especially 13-year-old girls.
CBA's annual event allows children to "shop" in the association's "toy store" in its Gainesville office, where toys are separated by age.
"I'll tell you, the 13-year-old girls are pretty hard to buy for," she said. "But they like watches, perfumes, colognes, bath sets, things like that. And they like CDs and CD players. And they pick out a lot of those, and we buy a lot of those."
Electronic games are good for kids age 7 or 8 or older, and Patrick added that no matter the age, you can't go wrong with a ball - basketball, football or soccer.
"Boys, they like handheld games and they like watches also. And they like remote cars," Patrick added. "And of course the younger ones - 8, 9, 10, 11 - they like the same things only on a smaller scale. They like Legos, that kind of stuff."
But it's one thing buying a gift for a child - so many toys are not only fun to buy, but much cheaper than, say, an iPhone for an adult.
Buying for family members - people we know dearly - also can be tough.
"It's a heartening thing, but you (can) get distressed over it," Santa said. "There are families out there (wondering), ‘What am I going to get (for someone)?' "
Maybe the answer lies in something simple.
"Let's have a nice quiet time together or treat ourselves to a trip," Santa said. That's all we need, when it comes down to it."