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Can't be too early Photo by Jim Craven Five-year-old Colyn Shepard of Medford gives Santa a pat Saturday during a visit to the Rogue Valley Mall. Colyn and his brother, Bryan, had their holiday gift list ready to go -- the weekend before Thanksgiving. Kids line up to let Santa know their wishes in plenty of time BY MARK FREEMAN Mariah Lines strolled the final steps to Santa Claus' throne Saturday with everything in place: A fine Christmas sweater, a toothy smile and a mental list of goodies for the elves to fill. But once on Santa's lap, the pressure of going one-on-one with Kris Kringle himself made her 6-year-old brain freeze. "I didn't know what to say, so I just said `Barbie,"' said Lines, of Central Point. "I didn't say what kind or size or anything." Lucky for Lines, she has five weeks to recover and ask for what she really wants: "A friend for my kitten -- another kitten," she said. That's just one of the benefits for hitting up Santa during his first hour of work Saturday in the Rogue Valley Mall -- it gives kids plenty of time to correct any glitches in gift requests. Lines and lines of others like her Saturday took advantage of Day One of the annual assault on Claus at the mall by submitting this year's gift demands well ahead of Thanksgiving. And, as 7-year-old Katie McCoy of Central Point sees it, there's no such thing as too early when it comes to getting Santa squared away. "He won't forget," McCoy said. "He makes a list anyway, doesn't he?" In the next five weeks, Santa will have about 15,000 mall kids of all ages on his list to check twice against this year's naughty-nice standard. That's a lot of work for one guy -- and officially, it is just ONE guy, said Jill Ditty, the mall's marketing director. "There's only one real Santa, of course," Ditty said. Note to parents: There's actually a stable of Santas working the throne at the mall. They work shifts during regular business hours, except for half-hour lunch breaks and the occasional 15-minute stretch to get the blood flowing through a cramped lap. But that should all be kept secret from Santa's young believers. "We like to keep the illusion alive," Ditty said. It was alive and well within Colyn Shephard, a 5-year-old Medford boy who joined his 10-year-old brother Bryan and friend on Saturday's Santa expedition. Colyn asked Santa for a remote-controlled car -- the identical solicitation of Bryan just minutes before -- and is convinced his early request won't get lost in the shuffle. "I told him, `thank you,' because I like Santa and I don't want him to forget me," Colyn said. Bryan agreed with his brother's never-too-early attitude. "This gives the elves time to make it," he said. Santa sat prone on his throne at 10 a.m., with a procession of kids already lined up. Visitors posed for pictures with the jolly, happy soul before strolling away with a free candy cane and digitally reproduced photographs, available at a price. The less self-conscious ones wore a balloon hat created courtesy of Mrs. Claus or a set of cardboard reindeer antlers stamped with the mall insignia. All left with faith that their Christmas desires will come true -- even those whose gift requests were cut short by Santa's little helpers. "I told him, `a stuffed animal,' but I didn't tell him what kind because they were taking too many pictures," McCoy said. "I was going to say, `Beanie Babies.' "And it's the retired ones, like `Sly Fox,' that I want," she said. "But I'm not sure Santa still makes retired ones." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA