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Monday, December 20, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Creative Carol Contest: Sing along and help us pick a winner

By Jack Broom

Seattle Times staff reporter

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My, what talented boys and girls you are! Santa is very impressed.

More than 130 entries streamed in to our Creative Carol Contest, in which we asked Seattle Times readers to spice up a holiday-season standard with a Northwest flavor.

Entries included the obligatory odes to coffee, of course, and assorted laments about hectic Christmas shopping and Seattle traffic. But we also heard from a Bellingham woman who set her potato-latkes recipe to music and an Army captain in Iraq who opined, "On the first month of my deployment the Army sent me — to a place with only one tree."

The recount in the governor's race inspired some two dozen carol-crafters, including a Bellevue girl who, in a Deck-the-Halls take-off, urged, "Give the job to Dino Rossi / Christine Gregoire's kinda bossy."

Narrowing down the field was hard work, but we've selected five finalists, and now it's up to you to pick a winner.

Below are the lyrics for the finalists. To truly appreciate their beauty and musical variety, you must hear them. So then:

Listen to the creative carol finalists and vote for your favorite. You can also hear the songs and vote by calling 206-464-2455. Follow the simple prompts to log your vote.

Next week, we'll add the online votes to the votes of readers who used our automated phone line and announce the winner Christmas Eve ... unless we need to do a hand recount, in which case, we'll shoot for Memorial Day.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or e-mail jbroom@seattletimes.com.

•   •   •

"Salmon Claus is Comin' to Town" by Kerry-ellen Canning, Seattle (Tune: "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town")
He's better than trout.
He's tasty with fries.
He doesn't cause gout
And he's good for your mind.
Salmon Claus is coming to town.
He's good in a soup.
He's chillin' on ice.
It's holiday time, so cook him up nice.
Salmon Claus is coming to town

HEATHER MCKINNON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

He's freshest from Pike Market,
Caught wild, fresh from the lake;
Farm-raised is bad and never good
So get wild for Salmon's sake.
O! Cook him up now
With a couple of beers.
He's fatty and pink, and good for New Year's.
Salmon Claus is coming to town.
Salmon Claus is coming to town!
•   •   •
"In the Rain" by the office staff of Susan Kovalik & Associates, Covington (Tune: "Let it Snow")
Oh, the salmon outside are streaming
And eggnog lattes are steaming
We have to catch a Boeing plane
In the rain! In the rain! In the rain!
On Amazon we'll be shopping

HEATHER MCKINNON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Our credit cards we'll be chopping
Jammin' with Jimi and Cobain
In the rain! In the rain! In the rain!
The fish are flyin' at Pike Place
We're waiting for St. Helens to blow
The Seattle Storm kicked some ... ace
And the Space Needle's a-all aglow!
The traffic is really slo-ow
You can cut your tree as you go-o
The Northwest is the home we claim
In the rain! In the rain! In the rain!
•   •   •

HEATHER MCKINNON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

"Frisky Sea-Tac" by Ramanujam Rajagopal, Seattle (Tune: "Frosty the Snowman")

Oh, frisk me at Sea-Tac,
Though I might just miss my plane,
'Cause I just don't know, how far you'll go,
And it might be worth my wait.
You shoulda been a part of that recount,
'Cause between your hands and that machine,
I'm getting so excited, but I haven't decided,
Just which one's safer for me!
There must be some magic in that sturdy baton you wield,
'Cause shortly after it passed my buckle, it beeped and began to squeal!
So pat me down at Sea-Tac,
And take your sweet time as you do,
I may have to run for my plane, but I'll be back again,
to spend some New Year's time with you!

•   •   •

HEATHER MCKINNON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

"Oh Christmas Trees" ... by Jason Cook, Seattle (Tune: "O Christmas Tree")

Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
You have become so expensive.
A Noble Fir with boughs so strong
Will bloat my VISA all summer long.
Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
You have become so expensive.
Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
How I miss Chubby and Tubby's*.
I can't believe how much I spent
I could have made a car payment.
Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
How I miss Chubby and Tubby's

Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
From you I've learned my lesson
Your price per foot is so darn big,
Next year we're getting a Christmas Twig
Oh Christmas Trees
Oh Christmas Trees
From you I've learned my lesson.
(* Seattle Times note: Although Chubby & Tubby stores have closed, the chain's former manager is selling trees under the Chubby & Tubby banner on Aurora Avenue North, on Rainier Avenue South and in Burien and Kent.)
•   •   •

HEATHER MCKINNON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

"Carol of the Ballot-Counting Elves" by Emily Anthony and David Maymudes, Seattle (Tune: "Let it Snow")
Well the calendar says December
And we voted in November,
But still we don't know the score.
Count some more, count some more, count some more!
Well it could be Christine or Dino,
So let's open up the vino.
Hey, is that a ballot on the floor?
Count some more, count some more, count some more!
When we finally do decide,
How the loser will hate to concede.
But with lawyers on either side
We counters may never be freed!
Well Gary's already packing
And Santa's getting cracking
So although it's become a bore,
Count some more, count some more, count some more!

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