Test flights of Santa’s sleigh are scheduled to begin in Sector 4 starting sometime on Monday, July 26th, North Pole Flight Command has announced.

We are not sure yet if the tracking map for those first flights will be ready or not by that date. We are expecting an announcement from Elf Tubby Ryder, elf supervisor for Sector 4. Since that tracking center was the first announced and thus the one center most ready we are thinking the odds are pretty good that the map will be ready.

12 prototype sleighs have already been positioned at a reindeer ranch in Argentina. Two full teams of test flight reindeer are already in South America at the same ranch to be readied for the launch of the sleighs. We are awaiting word to know if the flights will work around the clock or if they will only be scheduled at certain times of the day.

Because of the late start to the test flight program many assume the flight schedule will be aggressive.

Once we know the first few weeks of the schedule we will share that information with you.

Mistletoe, Kentucky will be home to the regional tracking center for Sector 5, covering North and Central America. Elf Pinky and team have been recorded by North Pole Flight Command as being already in the area to get the tracking center set up. They are hoping to have it online by the time test flights of Santa’s sleigh begin.

Mistletoe, Kentucky looks like it is in the middle of everything if you look at it on a map. But on the ground it’s a different story. The place is remote, fairly free of a lot of residents, and ideal for setting up a complex tracking center that makes use of a lot of technology.

Here’s a shot Pinky sent us from her arrival there a few days ago:

As you can see, there are not many people there.

But Pinky told me she has already been “found out”. A local man, who just happens to be a freelance elf, spotted Pinky at a local store and guessing it might be her just because of her pink hair, blurted out, “Is that Elf Pinky?”

Pinky was not expecting to have anyone spot her. But she turned her head as he said that he couldn’t help but say, “As I live and breathe, I’ve seen my first genuine elf!”

Elf Pinky had no choice but to introduce herself. The man – he goes by Elf Wonderboy – said he has worked as a tracker elf for “many years” and wondered if Santa would ever bring the Regional Tracking center to Mistletoe. “It just makes sense,” he said. “I think it is the perfect place for it.”

Elf Wonderboy did explain how big of a deal Christmas is in Kentucky. He said it is a southern place that gets a touch of snow every now and then, despite it’s low elevation. He said because of that people in Kentucky count down the days until Santa comes and pray for snow every year. He said it does not happen often. But, he said, almost everyone puts up lights and everyone does have a tree:

He told Pinky that there are a lot of Santa trackers in Kentucky, even many that she does not know about. He called Kentucky “the cream of Sector 5”.

It may be a few days until we start hearing from this new regional HQ. Pinky said they were “having fun” getting all the power and Internet they need.

But they should be online soon.

North Pole Flight Command has announced the location for the regional tracking center in Sector 1 will be located in Wiseman’s Creek, Australia this year. Evidently Elf Randi and a team of set-up elves have been there already for a week getting things ready.

That leaves just two sectors yet to announce – Sectors 3 and 5. Flight Command says they will announce those locations this week.

Wisemans Creek is a small New South Wales Rural Location within the local government area of Oberon. Wisemans Creek has a recorded population of 113 residents and is within the Australian Eastern Daylight Time zone Australia/Sydney. Here’s an image of the area, which actually shows very few buildings:

I don’t know how old that picture is but I don’t see many buildings there. This kind of location is, however, just what North Pole Flight Command likes – rural, remote and not many people. The work of tracking Santa for Santa requires privacy and concentration. I have a feeling Sector 1 will be a high performer this year from this location.

The announcement comes ahead of a new schedule for test flights of Santa’s sleigh. There is no word yet if Sector 1 will be ready for the start of those flights or not.

Happy half way to Christmas!

Today we celebrate Leon Day at the North Pole. “Leon” is Noel spelled backwards, which makes this day a little silly. It is kind of like April Fool’s Day for elves. Folks here do things backwards, enjoy pranking each other and decorating where they can for Christmas, even though it’s not Christmas.

Leon Day is actually an internet invention. It was first marked years ago online by early Christmas communities, such as the Merry Forums of MyMerryChristmas.com. Each 24th of the month is known as Rudolph Day and the countdown to Christmas Eve – the ultimate 24th day of the month during the year. June 24th and June 25th are special because they mark the half-way point to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Leon Day also falls about a week before July 1st – so it’s the perfect lead-in to Christmas-in-July.

Of course, we have things going on this weekend to mark Leon Day and the beginning of Christmas in July.

In Elf Chat, on Saturday, June 25th, we get a visit from Elf Roger. This is actually a re-schedule of the chat Roger was supposed to hold in April. He’s going to give us a program update for Tracker Elves. I’m not sure if he has any big announcements, but he has told me he is opening to answering any questions you might have.

Later on Saturday, also in Elf Chat, we anticipate a gathering of several North Pole Elves who will be talking about both Leon Day and Christmas in July at the North Pole.

We hope you can join us!