Santa letter tradition gets a second chance
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - North Pole elves have good reason to celebrate again, thanks to a decision by the U.S. Postal Service to resume a Santa Claus letter program that has thrilled children from around the world for decades.
"It's great!" Gabby Gaborik, chief elf among several dozen volunteers, said after the agency said yesterday that it was reversing its recent decision to drop a program begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole. It had suspended it over privacy concerns.
Gaborik's group, Santa's Mailbag, responds each year to thousands of letters sent to "Santa Claus, North Pole." The letters will now be answered by the volunteers under tightened privacy rules instituted nationwide by the Postal Service.
Santa's Mailbag has also been assigned a specific address that will allow its volunteers to run their own alternative letter-answering program. Children can write to Santa through that program at: 1 Santa Claus Lane, North Pole, AK 99705.
At least 100 volunteers are expected to help in both letter efforts, Gaborik said.
People in North Pole, a town of about 2,100 that prides itself on its Christmas identity, had been outraged over losing a beloved holiday tradition. Members of Alaska's congressional delegation, who sent letters this week to Postmaster General John Potter expressing their concerns, hailed yesterday's decision.
