oddly enough

oddly enough

210 surfers dressed as Santa Claus gather in Florida

COCOA BEACH, Fla.

More than 210 surfers dressed as Santa Claus, elves and snowmen surfed the Christmas Eve waves off central Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Florida Today reports that when Cocoa Beach Mayor Dave Netterstrom took in the view from the sand Tuesday, he declared the fourth-annual gathering “the largest surfing Santa event on the planet.”

Organizer George Trosset says he may move the holiday event to downtown Cocoa Beach next year to accommodate growing crowds. He started the tradition in 2009 with a few family members after seeing a television commercial featuring people surfing in Santa Claus attire.

More friends joined them the following year, and in 2012, nearly 160 surfers participated. Trosset says the event “has gone from being a little family party to being a community event.”

Christmas tree hangs above Akron Children’s

AKRON

Young patients looking for Santa in the night sky above a Northeast Ohio hospital saw a different holiday symbol — a hanging Christmas tree.

A construction crew at Akron Children’s Hospital uses a crane to hoist a twinkling, 13-foot Christmas tree 150 feet above the facility each night, hoping to brighten the holidays for patients.

Fifteen-year-old Massillon resident Ben Stanoyevic tells the Akron Beacon Journal he initially was confused to see the tree but enjoyed watching it while he was at the hospital dealing with complications from cystic fibrosis.

The tree was provided by the man overseeing a construction project, Welty-Boldt superintendent Tom Conti. He says one of his sons was treated at the hospital years ago, and that experience made him want to help other patients smile.

Pa. man wins $1M Picasso with $138 raffle ticket

WEXFORD, Pa.

A man looking for art for his new home has won a $1 million Picasso painting with a $138 raffle ticket.

Jeffrey Gonano told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review he’s not sure he’ll ever hang the masterpiece in his home in Wexford, in western Pennsylvania, given its value.

The 25-year-old Gonano, who works for his family’s fire-sprinkler business, learned last week that his ticket had won the Paris raffle. Organizers say nearly 50,000 tickets were sold worldwide, for 100 euros apiece, to benefit a Lebanese charity.

The 1914 work, “Man in the Opera Hat,” dates from Spanish master Pablo Picasso’s cubist period. Picasso died in 1973.

The raffle raised about $3.5 million for the International Association for the Safeguard of Tyr, a UNESCO heritage site, said Reem Chalabi, an education coordinator with the group.

Associated Press