Honolulu:
While US President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha slipped off to the beach on Christmas Eve, Michelle Obama, the First Lady, took care of a little holiday business: answering telephone calls from children inquiring as to the whereabouts of Santa Claus.
The first lady participated in the "Tracks Santa" program, run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known by its acronym, NORAD. The program began in 1955 after a youngster in Colorado Springs dialed a misprinted telephone number in a newspaper looking for Santa - and wound up getting a commander at NORAD's predecessor agency. The commander gave the child Santa's whereabouts, and a tradition was born.
Today, NORAD runs a Web site,
http://www.noradsanta.org and a live operations center with more than 1,200 volunteers who receive hundreds of calls and e-mails from around the world looking for Mr. Claus. Mrs. Obama spent 40 minutes fielding calls, the White House said.