Palmerton's United Veterans Organization continued their yearly tradition of delivering gifts and grins to patients at the hospital on Tuesday evening.

With Sam Leslie playing substitute Santa Claus - Woody Green had to take a pass due to illness - the group doled out gifts to patients who needed an extra dose of holiday cheer. While the UVO was prepared for 25 recipients or more, they only ended up presenting gifts to five."But, I guess that's good. It's a healthy area," UVO member Ed Moyer said.The extra gifts will not go to waste, however, as the veterans opted to supply the nurses' station with the excess, along with instructions to deliver them to any incoming patients with a message that they came from Santa and the UVO."We still brought a lot of smiles to the people that were there," Moyer said. "They were happy to see Santa."Richard Nothstein made an appearance at the event as well, presenting a check for $500 to be donated to Valor House on behalf of the veterans.