From an X-Box to the release of tax rebate checks and repeal of Article 12, members and guests of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce asked \u201cSanta Claus\u201d for the things they want for Christmas during the Chamber\u2019s general membership meeting at Fiesta Resort & Spa in Garapan yesterday.<\/p>\n
While seated on Santa\u2019s lap, a male student asked for an X-Box. Then there was Rey Perez of Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 wishing for the release of tax rebate checks.<\/p>\n
Chamber executive director Richard Pierce, during his turn, wished for \u201ctwo to three good garment factories\u201d on Saipan to manufacture Santa\u2019s clothes, for example, and help revive the CNMI economy.<\/p>\n
Santa Claus, with Mrs. Santa by his side, told Pierce that he\u2019s old but if his memory serves him right, \u201cDidn\u2019t that get you into trouble years back?\u201d<\/p>\n
When businessman Bud White\u2019s turn came, he asked Santa Claus to help him collect from the CNMI government some $100,000 in receivables. When William Wanket, dressed as Santa Claus, and White, came face to face, some members of the audience thought they were twins. <\/p>\n
Northern Marianas College president Sharon Hart had a different Christmas wish\u2014that all the high school students present at the Chamber meeting would be able to finish college and be the force to turn the CNMI economy around.<\/p>\n
Santa Claus was the Chamber\u2019s surprise visitor, giving members and guests the chance to personally tell him their holiday wishes.<\/p>\n
On a serious note, Santa Claus said that Christmas is not about gifts and money, but \u201cabout being nice to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see everybody smile,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s saddened to read and hear only negative news. He wishes there will be good news as well.<\/p>\n
Chamber president Douglas Brennan, after enumerating the somber economic realities facing the CNMI, brought up a \u201chappier note.\u201d Brennan said the USS Columbia recently made its maiden voyage to Saipan for rest and recreation, and its commander, Dennis Klein, \u201chad nothing but nice things to say about the island and mentioned that Saipan came highly recommended by other ships in the fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is exactly the kind of reputation we want. We need to continue our efforts in this regard and take our hospitality to the next level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Military ships anchored off the Saipan lagoon alone each contribute over $1 million to the CNMI economy annually, including the purchase of fuel, maintenance, and supply services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From an X-Box to the release of tax rebate checks and repeal of Article 12, members and guests of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce asked \u201cSanta Claus\u201d for the things they want for Christmas during the Chamber\u2019s general membership meeting at Fiesta Resort & Spa in Garapan yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}