Weekly News Recap: December 26, 2025

Weekly News Recap: December 26, 2025

Alan Kerr, Santa's 'head elf' and founder of emailsanta.com, receives more than a million letters a year addressed to Santa Claus. Many of them ask for gifts; others turn to Santa for comfort. (Rukhsar Ali/CBC)

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. — Eleanor Roosevelt

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Yes, There's a Parallel Parking Championship, and I Was a Contender (Car and Driver) My kids know which club they are in ;-) "When someone asks if you're a good parallel parker, there should be no hesitation, because you already know. You're either a Parallel Parking Wu-Tang Master, sliding into that spot with silent swagger, or you're a member of the Curb Kisser Club, whispering a prayer and hoping no one's watching. There's no in-between, just legends and white-knucklers."

  • She collected snowmen for 50 years. When she died, her husband built a Christmas village in her honour (CBC) #TrueLove "Kathy Allen Duncan was a young newlywed in 1974 when she assembled her first snowman village in the apartment she shared with her new husband. She would continue that Christmas tradition for the next 50 years, until she died in September at the age of 73 of complications from diabetes. Now, her husband has taken all the snowman ornaments she collected over the course of their life together — more than 1,000 in total — and created a Christmas village display in her honour at the mall in their hometown of Topeka, Ka."

  • Chef Saves 78-Year-Old Man's Life After He Stopped Showing Up for His Daily Dinners at Local Restaurant (People) "A chef saved a 78-year-old man's life after he noticed he hadn’t been showing up for his regular meals at a restaurant in Pensacola, Fla. For 10 years, Charlie Hicks had been a regular customer at Shrimp Basket, ordering the same dinner twice a day [...] However, when he hadn’t shown up at the restaurant for two days in September, staff members began to feel concerned. 'Mr. Hicks don't miss no days,' chef Donell Stallworth told CBS News. 'We open the doors up, Mr. Hicks is there to greet us.' 'I knew, then, something was wrong,' "

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. VIDEO: Catholic Priest Who Moonlights as a DJ Got Pope Leo XIV to Appear at a Rave (My Modern Met) Love this! "A Portuguese priest named Guilherme Peixoto rose to fame not for what happens inside his church, but for what goes on when the temple doors have closed for the day and his love for music shines. After experimenting with mixing electronic music with religious songs, he has become a famous DJ that tours the world—and even earned a nod from Pope Leo XIV himself."

  2. VIDEO: Charitable donations not keeping up with rising demand (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "Many Canadian charities say donations aren't keeping up with the demand for assistance this holiday season. The high cost of living is impacting how much people are able to give as well as the amount of people looking for help."

  3. VIDEO: Canada's growing profile in Antarctic research may get a boost with expedition in 2026 (CBC) CANADIAN STORY "The scientists are still at preliminary stages of analysis on the volume of samples collected, but they plan to publish peer-reviewed results, adding to the international body of Antarctic research. As for the navy, Vice-Admiral Topshee told CBC News that the Antarctic is also of geopolitical interest — particularly with national players like China, which has multiple research stations on the continent and an expanding presence in the Arctic."

  4. VIDEO: Sask. man has one of the largest known collections of hockey books. It all started with a hockey draft (CBC) SASKATCHEWAN STORY #HockeyNerd "James Benesh was so interested in researching an online hockey draft, he ended up with one of the largest-known collections of hockey books and eventually being called a hockey historian."

  5. VIDEO: #TheMoment Canadians won a backward mile race in Antarctica (CBC) CANADIAN STORY Ha! "Amy Ellett tells The National about the moment she ran a backward mile race in a penguin costume with 80 other marathon runners in Antarctica."

  6. Up All Night in New York, Selling Christmas Trees (New York Times) CANADIAN CONTENT This is cool. Maybe I should do this next year 🤔 "Before Santa comes to town, the tree sellers do, packing themselves into trailers and vans across New York City to claim a slice of the competitive tree market."

  7. Turning pain into power: How a Cree fashion designer is working to inspire Indigenous youth (CBC) SASKATCHEWAN STORY #Beautiful "When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life. A Plains Cree single mother from Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation near Duck Lake, Sask., Gamble has lived many lives."

  8. VIDEO: Lethbridge Polytechnic President calls 2025 a “transitional” year (Bridge City) LETHBRIDGE STORY "As classes at post-secondary institutions wrap up for the term and for holiday break, the president of Lethbridge Polytechnic is reflecting on the last year and how the institution is holding up."

  9. Wyoming Cowboys Are Breaking Down Barriers, Literally (New York Times) I love this. I hope it catches on. "On an unusually warm November morning on Pitchfork Ranch in northwestern Wyoming, wranglers coaxed hundreds of cows, one at a time, into a small holding pen. They were there for their regular twice-per-year checkups. But this time, the cows got something more: GPS collars. If all goes according to plan, the collars will allow Ben Anson, the ranch manager, to take down miles of barbed-wire fences that divide the nearly 100,000-acre operation into separate pastures. More than 620,000 miles of fences slice up the American West. They keep cattle contained, but they can also make it difficult to manage sensitive ecosystems."

  10. Meet the 'head elf' running emailsanta.com for 3 decades (CBC) CALGARY STORY #ChristmasHero "Alan Kerr has been operating emailsanta.com for nearly three decades as “Santa’s head elf.” In that time, he’s received millions of letters from children (and adults) from across the world, all addressed to the jolly old man who lives at the North Pole. Kerr says Santa receives 10 emails a second on Christmas Eve — some asking for the latest toys, a new sibling or, in one case, a girlfriend for his dad."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. Why It's Absolutely Crucial To Preheat Your Cast Iron Pans (The Takeout) I cook regularly with cast iron. Baby it and it will be your best pan.

  2. Why your brain needs everyday rituals (Big Think) I am a huge morning rituals guy.

  3. VIDEO: The 10 best documentaries of 2025 (Far Out Magazine) Documentaries rock. And they are often way more entertaining than most of the 'average' movies.

  4. Can exercise help reduce burnout at work? Researchers find out (The Manual) I use it regularly for just this purpose.

  5. 10 Hacks for Online Privacy That Everyone Should Know (Lifehacker) Eeek. This, sadly, is a critical article.

  6. Why Do We Have Two Nostrils, Instead Of One Big Nose Hole? (IFL Science) How we breathe is fascinating.

  7. The Best Podcasts Ever Recorded (Tim Duggan) What a great shortcut hack!

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. University of Cincinnati receives $3.4 million bequest for nursing (Philanthropy News Digest) "The University of Cincinnati has announced a $3.4 million gift from the estate of alumnus Stephen J. Helman [...] in support of nursing scholarships and mental health services. "

  2. $5M donation made to the Dartmouth General Hospital (CBC) DARTMOUTH STORY "The Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation says a recent $5-million donation is the largest contribution made in the Dartmouth, N.S., hospital's history. The gift was given by Lisa O'Regan in memory of her late husband, Sean [O'Regan.]"

  3. VIDEO: UMaine receives $3.5M donation from late couple (YouTube) "Linda and Donald Zillman's estate left a large donation to students in the arts at the University of Maine."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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