No matter the weather, the economic situation, or personal family challenges, there is one constant we can count on this time of the year: The letters to Santa Claus.
They arrive full of charm, personality and childlike spirit, addressed to Santa at the North Pole and – after a detour here – are processed by postal officials at Dayton’s main post office on East Fifth Street.
The personal letters are often scribbled in a scrawl that perhaps only Santa can read, some have been dictated to mom or dad, and most include lists of desired Christmas gifts.
Short lists. Long lists. Some vague. Some specific. But nearly every letter to the big guy is warm, wonderful and cute. Some include drawings, and others have questions for the jolly old gentleman of Christmas.
Even in this era of e-mail and text messaging, post office spokesman Lee Withers said there were more than 1,000 letters dispatched by U.S. mail. Many don’t bear postage stamps, but all of them welcome.
For nearly four decades Santa and the postmaster have given me permission to sort through the giant mailbag for the amusing, poignant, and heartwarming reminders of the magic of Christmas.
Here is a sampling:
Tyler Rahe, a third-grader wrote on heart-shaped paper, “Dear Santa, I really want a smuggler S Belt for Christmas. I know it’s expensive but I’ve been longing for it really badly.”
After listing ten items he wanted, including Transformers and “spider man 3 ultimate web blaster,” Jacob Wilke added this thought, “I’ll leave a note with your cookies and milk this year. I love you Santa.”
Kearstan Bowling wrote, “I am 6 years old and I am in kindergarten. I am a very sweet girl. I behave very well. I’d like as much as you can get for me. O.K?”
She listed a number of items including a Holiday Barbie doll, and then added, “Tell the reindeers, elves and Mrs. Claus hello from me.”
Katie Grace Eriksen told Santa she is 8. She added, “As the year has been going, I hope I have been good enough for presents this year. I have never let you down so far. I would like a laptop, a Loving Family Twin Time Dollhouse, and a soccer goal net. Please be careful when it snows. Have a safe trip.”
Tiffany O’Grady had a neatly typed list of 135 items she offered for Santa’s consideration including 22 Hannah Montana items and the High School Musical 3 DVD. “I know I’m not going to get all this stuff,” Tiffany wrote. “But I would like a couple of this stuff.”
Nick Trimble thanked Santa for “the X-Box 360 that you sent me last Christmas.” Nick added, “I asked for a picture of Rudolf last year and you told me he was pretty shy but you might try to get one this year. By the way, is Rudolf still guiding your sleigh?”
Claire Rasmussen told Santa she wanted some make-up, and a pink Sponge Bob doll. She wrote, “I will make you some cookies. They will be brown. I will leave them on the Santy Claus plate with some milk and some carrots for the reindeer. You are very special.”
Claire added a post script: “P.S. Can my daddy win the lottery?”
A little girl who signed her letter “Emma” told Santa she wanted a “party dress, Dayton Dragons tickets, and a tooth brush that sings.”
Sierra Berus wrote that she would love to have a “Disney digital camera and a new sled for Christmas.” Then she added, “I would like my brother to come home and my whole family to be together for Christmas.”
Lance Tyler Ulrich had a question for Santa: “How do you know so much about me?” Then he added, “Please wake me up when you come to my house cause I want to see you.”
Madison Tidwell sent Santa some love, asked him to please write back and update how the reindeer and Mrs. Claus are doing. Then Madison wrote, “Could you please give my mom a $100 gift certificate? It would help a lot.”
Zane Goodin promised Santa he had been good this year, and then asked for “a camera transformer, a bumble bee transformer, the Anakin Star Wars transformer and a yellow pair of transformer binoculars.”
Santa may wonder if John Gossett wants to be a private detective when he gets older. John asked for: “one of those spy digital cameras, some fake guns, a mind reading machine, and an invisibility cloak.”
Emma Dearn said she just loves animals, and sent along a list to Santa which included “a real horse, and a free vacation in Kentucky.”
Emma had some interesting questions. “Do you control weather?” she asked. “If you do can you make our first big day of snow happen on Jan. 8, 2009?”
Dylan Fugate asked Santa how he is doing, and then, in a very nice gesture confided, “The most important thing I want this year is to help my grandma and my grandpa.”
Haley Craft told Santa she hoped he was staying warm at the North Pole and asked for some books for Christmas. Then Haley added, “All that I really want for Christmas is for me and my brother to get along.”
And with a caring and generous attitude Madison Linville’s letter to Santa ended this way: “For Christmas I would like it if poor people would get more money and people would be able to get a home. Yours truly, Madison.”
Source: Dayton Daily News
