Santa’s workshop is a busy place these days, with letters to Old Saint Nick coming in by the sack full at the Langley Canada Post depot.
Santa and his elves will spend every day from now until Dec. 22 putting pen to paper and writing to every boy and girl who send letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole.
Last year, more than 15,000 letters were written to Santa, arriving through the mail to the Langley Canada Post Office on Production Way, said head elf Don Campbell, a retired Canada Post employee.
Across Canada, 1.5 million letters were sent to Santa last year. This country may be the only one in the world that provides the service, free of charge.
While most communication takes place online these days, children across Canada still like sending a letter (which requires no postage), the old fashioned way, finding that is the most exciting way to reach Santa, said Campbell.
After all, getting a hand-written letter from the big guy is pretty special, compared to a return email, noted Campbell.
All the elves who help Santa are retired postal employees. They spend hours a day writing replies.
“I just got a letter today from a boy who asked for a gift for Children’s Hospital first and if there was anything left, he would take a toy car,” said Santa, a.k.a. Bruce Mavis, a longtime Langley resident who has dressed in the big red suit, volunteering to write letters from Santa for the past 22 years. He said being Santa has brought him a lot of joy over the years.
“There are some really good kids out there. I’ve had so many great letters this year, not asking for too much, usually just one or two things.”
Some letters come with nickels, others with drawings and stickers. Kids want to know about Rudolph and Mrs. Claus. Sometimes the letters bring tears to the elves’ and Santa’s eyes.
“One letter last year I received from a young child who said his grandmother was raising all six of them by herself and none of the kids got a visit from Santa,” said retired Canada Post employee/elf Kathy Burry.
The group of volunteers made sure those kids got a visit from Santa that year.
Sometimes children write to Santa about a parent who is dying or share some other trauma in their lives. Those letters are passed on to a special Santa in Vancouver who is trained to write back with an appropriate reply.
Mavis loves getting letters from parents who share that this is their baby’s first Christmas.
“Those letters I often will send a personal message to, writing and welcoming the baby to the world,” Mavis said.
They also get hundreds of letters from kids from Taiwan who are practicing their English by sending a letter. They often ask for maple leaves. The elves try each year to find fake ones to send or maple leaf stickers.
Santa and his postal elves write replies from Santa until Dec. 22, then return in the New Year to write back to all the latecomers.
Those kids get a postcard with a picture of Santa at the beach.
“Even Santa needs a vacation,” joked Campbell.