For the third year in a row, columnist Mark Fiorentino received a first-place award from the Connecticut Press Club. In his award-winning article, “Letter to Santa – 2025,” Florentino covered a lot of ground. He easily moved from his disappointment that Santa hadn’t responded to his previous letters for a number of years, to his musings that perhaps he’d ended up on Santa’s Naughty List. He quickly rejects that notion, since Santa, “would have said something at last year’s tree lighting ceremony.”
The one and only item on his wish list to Santa last year was The Zebco Model 208 De-Liar and it still comes in handy for many fishermen. (Now, of course, there is a digital version, The Zebco De-Liar 2.0 that requires 2 AAA batteries). But his nostalgia for the original version was real and imagine his surprise when his wish was fulfilled. No, not by Santa, but by one of his fishing buddies, John Jahrstorfer. And, it was the original version, just the one he had mentioned to Santa.
Still, Fiorentino doesn’t want to risk landing on the Naughty List this year, so he enlisted the help of AI to get some tips on how to get on the Nice List. Naturally, AI quickly delivered a list of suggestions, like being kind, volunteering, using good manners and giving thoughtful gifts. But AI also suggested, “Be present: give your family and friends your undivided attention when they are talking to you.” Fiorentino promised to work on that last one. It seems that AI helped to remind him that we shouldn’t lose touch with the things that really matter.
Maybe his efforts on being nicer really worked. He’ll have to let Santa know that his wish did come true, thanks to John Jahrstorfer. If you’d like to read this award-winning article, please follow this link.