Santa races are becoming as much of a tradition as candy canes and Christmas lights.

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No sooner are these sales finished than all the notebooks and pencils are cleared away and replaced by Halloween costumes, candy and other festive items, and Christmas merchandise fills up the aisles soon afterward.

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Brace yourself and make sure no children are looking over your shoulders, because these hoodlums belong to a particularly nasty group called the Christmas Sweater Club and they got in trouble for handing out miniature candy canes.

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Although it may not rank with Thanksgiving or Christmas in holiday status, Halloween is big business for certain industries, including the candy and costume businesses.

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Granted most Christmas dinners are often too small to have catered and most personal chefs are booked up with regular clients, says Candy Wallace, founder and director of the American Personal Chef Association.

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