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North Pole Alaska | Santa to Resume Responding to Children’s Letters
By Lisa | November 24, 2009
I don’t mean to offend anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t want to start a controversy, but I have to say: I don’t like Santa. I’m not sure if it started the year my older sister showed me my parents’ stash of gifts from “Santa” before Christmas, or not, but I have a hard time finding any enthusiasm for the man.
Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing but respect for overweight, happy old men who wear red coats. How could you not? But it’s when the guy doesn’t actually exist that I lose the ability to love and revere. If this shocks you, I apologize.
My personal feelings aside, most people really do love the guy and anticipating his advent every Christmas Eve is truly the highlight of many children’s (and some adult’s) year. Preparations are made to greet him with cookies and milk, but even further in advance, many children write letters telling how good they’ve been and what they’d like to find under the tree on Christmas morning.
Of course, Santa lives at the North Pole, so that’s where these letters are sent. In the past the sheer volume of letters was so great that there was no way Santa could answer them all personally.
In the 1950’s the US Postal Service devised a plan for helping the dear old man. Hundreds of volunteers were selected to read and respond to children’s wish lists in post offices across the country. This was a great solution and thousands of children over the years have cherished their letter from Santa, stamped with a North Pole address.
That is, until recently. On the East coast, a sex offender somehow found his way into one of these post office volunteer groups. Of course the last place we want this type of person is in a position that relates in any way to children, most especially where they have access to the kids’ names and addresses. But there he was.
For a while the only course of action seemed to be to shut down the system. Soon, though, a better solution was found. Tighter restrictions were set, requiring volunteers to show identification. They also discontinued allowing them access to children’s information. Instead, a code was used to replace the address, the volunteer responded to the letter, and then the post office translated the code back to the address.
Of course the North Pole is the ultimate destination of so many of these letters. Because the address belongs to Santa North Pole post offices have a lot of mail to answer. Unfortunately it appeared for a time that they would not be able to implement this coded address system. At that point they announced that they would not be responding to letters this year.
Many people make North Pole Trips and North Pole travel usually has as its main attraction the chance to visit Santa’s hometown. The thought of this important location being unable to respond to Christmas letters seemed absurd.
Fortunately, the story has a happy ending. The North Pole Postal service has announced that they will be responding to children’s letters after all! Good thing, too! The holiday is just around the corner, and volunteers are at the ready to spread a little Christmas cheer; the kind that comes with a stamp from the North Pole.
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