Gentlemen, Its time!!!!
Santa Claus is watching you!
Secret Santa. Yaaaaaaaaaay!

. For the 'New Guys' this is only Bobs second Secret Santa but it has a long lineage stemming from Knox Cigars old BB. Its always been a blast and sometimes been quite suprising,some of the worst 'Grinchs' have turned out to be some of the best Santa's. The same rules will apply this year but I will give a run down for all of you that doesn't know how it works.
As a gift, you may send any pipe-related item and/or cigar related item. With respect to pipe tobacco, the minimum is 150 grams of tinned tobacco or eight ounces of bulk tobacco or a pre-packed sampler that many B&M smoke shops and online vendors are offering for the holidays. If you give an estate pipe, be kind enough to clean it up and sanitize the bit. Any other items, such as, lighters, pouches, racks, tampers, new pipes, or even T-shirts & hats, are good ideas. With respect to cigars, the minimum will be 3/5 quality handmade cigars or any 5 or more cigar sampler that many B&M smoke shops and online vendors are offering. Cigar related accessories such as cigar carriers, humidors, lighters, ashtrays and so on are also acceptible. Bear in mind this isn't a maximum, most give more than this, but from past experiance I can honestly say its not what you get but what you give.
. With respect to tobaccos, please try to stay within the preferred category that will be provided in the e-mail you will be receiving from me. There's no sense sending a sweet aromatic to someone that usually smokes heavy latakia mixtures and vice versa. With respect to cigars, the qualifiers might be size and strength.
Please mail your package in time, so your recipient will receive it by Christmas. I suggest December 10th as a good target date. Factor in the heightened security that may be in place for parcels. It's best to put the real return address on the box, but you could use "Santa" as the sender's name.
Please do not ask me to assign someone in particular to be your recipient unless you have a suitable bribe.
Please use Priority mail with delivery confirmation, or UPS, fedex,etc. so the package can be traced if needed. It is okay to have your gift drop-shipped, to your recipient, from an online vendor, such as www.smokingpipes.com or your local smoke shop.
PLEASE, if you don't truly want to send a gift or you feel that it will be a burden on you, DO NOT SIGN UP AS A PARTICIPANT!
I will close registrations on November 7th. The cut-off date will allow for more time to secure your gift and to get it in the mail by December 10th.
Secret Santa Events have always worked because of the trust we have in our fellow Stokers (pipe smokers).
I reserve the right to refuse to allow certain people to participate. If someone had to cover your butt in the past or you are a well known arsehat its a good chance I'm telling you NO. Merry Christmas

The assignments will be totally random. To set the assignments, I will put the names and addresses on pieces of paper, put them in a hat, shake them up and have Bubba or da Bug draw them one by one. I know it's low-tech, but it works.

PM me when your ready to go on the list..


The List:
Puros_Bran
Doc Manhattan
Carlos
ZombieWienerDog (spooky frikkin name )
EjinVa
J
Clueless
Happypipester
Gadalfpc
Centurian
Ken
Jeremy
Mikem
Troutbum
Natch
Confidence Cohen
Pipey McPiperson
Benjamin Button
Mark
Doverpipes
Midnight Rider
DT

A quick one on the books...

Thanks Doc M...

He politely pointed out my error..

In the pm I'll need an email addy, you mailing addy, and IF you want a 'wish list' but at least a preference list if there's some type of tobacco you won't smoke. Thanks Doc.

Hint. Check the what are you smoking threads and reviews for ideas also.

Thanks for the Hint Carlos..
Lol.. Every year I tell myself, "next year I'm going to add Carlos' hint into the main body"... Every year I forget.

FWIW: I've never told anyone they couldn't sign up.. The people I was talking about don't even try... There are a handful of guys that roam the net looking to take advantage of things like this and box passes.... I weed them out as best I can...the comment is in no way intended to keep out guys I have 'philisophical'disagreements with.. So step up & sign up.

This is a great time to step forward and get yourself known if your a new guy... Its also a great time for those with 10,000lbs of tobacco to show some love..lol... Hey don't deny it, we have pics!

I'm still amazed at some of the Santa's of the past, especially last year... For those of you that totally blow peoples minds, it is appreciated.. I just wish I kept the list of who gave what to who after it was all done so I could rig it to get all the goodies

Hey ya also need to remember to not wait until the last minute... I've been talking about it for a couple months, have the dates in my signature line, and have give ye bastages over a week and a half to sign up... When the boat leaves the dock its gone, so sign up now, while its fresh on yer peabrain.

So I'm sitting here minding my own biz when Santa rings me up.. "How many ya got?"..

"5 Santas Santa"

"5? What have you been doing all day?"...

"Working Santa, going to CT.. Remember I have a real job .."

"Real job, under paid blah blah blah..."

I cut him off " look man you never call just to talk, it aint never 'jeatyet' 'whaaaaaatsuppppppppppp' or nothing, you call me up and bitch. I quit!"

"You can't quit!" He yells..

"I just did ya fat rat bastid, you think this is the frikkin north pole or something? I got ya north pole right here and I'd tell ya to eat it but I've seen how 'excited' you get when you watch Lord of the rings, frikkin homo elf, ya think Mike will do it? Yeah right, he'll stick you on another flight on the 24th..you rememner that? Huh? That's right, you don't remember that, because for the last 4 years I've had the bros suckered into doing your job for you.. And all you do is call and bitch, I don't need man". And I hung up...

So I'm sitting here smoking some McC Arcadia in an old Comoy trying to figure out how to tell you guys Secret Santa is off...

The phone rings...I pick it up.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaatsssssssssss
Uuuupppppppppppppppppppppppp?"

"Knock it off, you already blew that..." I says.

"Look man, I need you.." I hear.

I interrupt "let me guess, Mike was going to put you on another redeye..."

"Well, uhhh, errr, ahum let's not worry about that, the bottom line is I need ya to stay on the project." He mumble.

"What?" I'm grinning, but he can't see it....
"I said I need you on the project" he says a little louder..
"Huh? I think your breaking up, I'm about to bust out laughing.
"Damit, I said I need you." He yells..
"Told you ya was a queer" I chuckle, "but I aint that way!" I can almost hear his bloodpressure rising.."Look Santa I'll stay on and run it, but you've got to let me do it my way."
"Uhh well, I guess I have been a little tough, Have you put the pressure on Ken, and TO, and J, and Pdiddy, and Hermit, and Natch..."
"Santa, let me handle it, go smoke a bowl and go watch Lord of the rings again or something."

You guys have no clue the crap I put up with to do this every year....

That was a long story for a hint PB!

Hey, I'm just telling ya how he does me, I'm not dropping hints.. I'm saving that for Saturday...

I'm going to the 'what tobacco did you buy'..the 'your celler'..the Pad&Tad section etc and pickin out the guys that's been braggin all year when I go to 'hinting'

Depends on who it is... Someone like Carlos or J is going to cost you... I don't know.. Somewhere along the lines of a Sixten pipe..
Othe guys, like me, are cheaper.. Probably a Lars pipe..
Schmucks like Kilted you can get for a Nanna pipe and a couple lbs of baccy.

Hey fellers..

Remember I need your name, mailing address, email (in case BoB freaks out on us again) and if you'd like to add a preference list that's fine to...

I'm going to bed so if you sign up between now and 8am don't freak out if your name doesn't show up on the list right away....

Where ya at ole timers? Your letting the 'new blood' out number you.......... Don't wait!

9 or 10 more days depending on how you count..

10 signups in a little less that 24 hours.. The first time I did it I figured the rate would stay the same lol if that happened we'd have 100 Secret Santas.. That'd be awesome but it isn't going to happen...
I'm going to guess an average of one a day until closing..
20..

Wanna prove PB wrong?

PM sent. I'm really looking forward to this again this year.

This is last years Secret Santa thread. Makes for good reading. it's a lot more fun when people post what they received. Comments. Well wishes and seasons greetings.

Ignore the fact that it says 2009. Nobody noticed until it was too late to edit the thread. Oh, and it's 14 pages long.

2008 BoB Forum Secret Santa Thread

Ok I'm in! pm sent! Ken

Mark?
Midnite Blues?
Jp?
Kilted?
Kap?

C'mon ya bunch of tightwads...
I know you've got a celler full.. Time to share!