Santa will be coming on a helicopter tomorrow, Saturday, December 18th.

Mike Spurrell is the President of the Rotary Club in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Spurrell says that Santa has 630 gift bags packed up and ready for the children.

Weather permitting, Santa will be arriving to Natuashish around 9:30am and will get into Nain around 10:30am.

As Santa arrives in the community, he will attend the Christmas Parade that will be from the airport up to the Jeremias Sillett Community Centre to give the gifts to the children.

The Nain Department of Health and Social Development has hired an acting Youth Outreach Worker.

Quinn Palliser is the new Acting Youth Outreach worker.

She says that she will do the planning for youth while Crystal Allen-Webb goes on maternity leave.

Right now, Palliser is planning to do a boil-up, get an elder to tell stories to the youth, do some craft nights, and some baking/cooking, but she says they are talking about it, and nothing have been set.

Congratulations Palliser on your new position as the Youth Outreach worker.

It’s exactly a week away today for the Annual Candlelight Services in the Moravian Churches, and this year this service will be going ahead twice at the Nain Moravian Church on Friday, December 24th.

The Candlelight Services last year in Nain was put together to air on OK Radio for the residents to go by and listen and join on, this was done due to COVID-19 and Health restrictions.

The Nain Moravian Church has put out a schedule for that important day.

Here’s the schedule of when the residents of Nain can join from, they’re location:

Friday, December 24th – at 4 pm is for the upper part of town and at 7pm it will be for the lower part of town.

To date the schedule remains as is unless there is a change due to COVID-19.

Also in other news its unfortunate that the David Builey organist will not make it to Nain as planned earlier something came up and he will not be playing the organ in Nain this Christmas.

The Nunatsiavut Government is calling on all residents of the five Labrador Inuit communities to remain vigilant and continue following public health protocols to help prevent exposure and potential spread of the highly-contagious coronavirus variant Omicron.

Omicron is more easily transmitted from person to person than the Delta variant, which is currently the predominant strain of COVID-19 in the country. While existing vaccines offer some level of defense against Omicron, studies indicate those who get a booster shot, or a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, may be better protected.

Those who have yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster, or third shot of the vaccine, are being encouraged to do so as soon as they are eligible. A third dose can be administered six months after the second dose.

Parents and guardians are also being encouraged to take steps to ensure their children, between 5 and 11 years of age, get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Arrangements for COVID-19 immunization and boosters can be made by contacting your local Public Health Office.

In addition to ensuring that you have received all of the COVID-19 vaccinations that you are eligible for, remember to continue to wear your mask, social distance and keep your number of contact’s low.

The construction of the new homes and the two duplexes are going well to date.

Tom Lyall is the General Manager of Nunatsiavut Group of Companies.

He says in the early part of summer there were delays with materials to arrive the communities on the Kamutik W, but once the building materials arrived the construction phase started and is going really well.

Stay tuned AtjiKangitut today when Lyall give you more details on the work Nunatsiavut Construction are doing and TRHA.

Santa Claus will once again be on OKâlaKatiget Radio on Tuesday, December 21st, 2021 from 2-4 pm.

Children ages 12 years and under will be able to call Santa.

Children in town who wish to talk to Santa with their wish list can call our station at 922-2955 and children out of town can call on our toll free number at 1-855-922-2955.

Santa and his elves are very busy at this time of the year, so, children get your wish list ready to tell Santa what you want for Christmas.

We would also like to remind parents or guardians that children are asked to keep it short as possible, so that other children get a chance to talk to Santa.

Once again, Santa will be on OKâlaKatiget Radio on Tuesday, December 21st from 2-4 pm.

The next TaKuaKautik Food Bank Giveaway will be next week and will be the last one for the year.

The giveaway will be at the warehouse from 6 to 8pm.

If you did not receive a bag in October but need a bag now, please provide your name to Brenda Jararuse.

If you have Food Bank bags, please return them to the yellow container on the steps at the Warehouse.

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has forced a shift in the way the provincial government views rapid testing of new arrivals in the province.

Newfoundland and Labrador recorded its first case of Omicron yesterday in the Eastern Health region.

That revelation was coupled with some changes in requirements for travelers arriving in the province.

Post-secondary students must now take a PCR test upon arrival, and all travelers will be given rapid test kits that can be used daily to check for the virus.

While point of entry testing has been used in the province before, it was never used to such a degree.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald explains why Public Health’s thought process on such testing has shifted.

She says Omicron spreads very quickly and has a much shorter incubation period of about three days. Therefore, they want to get that information as quickly as possible, meaning having people wait a couple of days for a PCR test isn’t feasible.

The SmartICE Northern Production centre is looking for applicants to take part in the SmartICE Operator Training Program.

Rex Holwell Jr is the Northern Production Lead.

He says that he is looking for four applicants and the deadline to apply is January 10, 2022

Stay tuned later on in the AtjiKangitut Program to hear more about the Operator Training program with Holwell Jr.

OK Radio contacted each of the community freezers to see what they have to offer.

In Hopedale, they have moose, chicken, cod fish, fries, nuggets, wieners, and char.

The Postville community freezer has moose, salmon, char and cod.

In Makkovik, they have artic char and a couple of baked scallops.

The Nain community freezer has char.

We will get Rigolet’s Community Freezer once it becomes available.