Thousands of children from all over the world almost didn’t get a return letter from Santa or his helpers this year thanks to the US Postal Service.
After a nearly 55 year tradition, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane, Postal Service officials announced that they were tightening rules in such programs nationwide after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency’s Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to make changes to the program.
Losing the Santa-letter cache would be a blow to the community of 2,100 people, who pride themselves on their Christmas ties. Huge tourist attractions here include an everything-Christmas store, Santa Claus House, and the post office, where visitors can get a hand-stamped postmark on their postcards and packages if they ask for it. “It’s Grinchlike that the Postal Service never informed all the little elves before the fact,” he said. “They’ve been working on this for how long?”, said North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson.
Kids around the world can still send letters to Santa Claus. The Postal Service still runs the giant Operation Santa Program in which children around the world can have their letters to Santa answered, and the restrictions do not affect private organizations running their own letter efforts. But what would have changed is that the generically addressed letters to “Santa Claus, North Pole” that for years have been forwarded to volunteers in the Alaska town.
It was announced, amid an outcry, that the Postal Service had reversed its decision and would allow the volunteers of North Pole to run the program
“We have now put protections in place,” said Mr. Potter. “We’re redacting the last name and address before we send any letters on,” Postmaster General John E. Potter explained.
The new system replaces those details with code readable only by post office computers.
“If people then want to give, they can send us the letter and whatever gift, and we will pass it on,” said Mr. Potter, who added that he was confident there would be no further problems.
