FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	
 Contact: Media Relations	202-268-2155
November 26, 2003
	Release No. 090
	www.usps.com

POST OFFICE TO SANTA:  WRITE BACK EARLY

THE NORTH POLE - You are six years old.  Your Mom and Dad bring in the mail.  
They hand you a letter with a North Pole postmark.  You open the letter.  
It's more than Santa's response to the wish list you sent him - it's a 
memory of a lifetime.  
 
The Postal Service is helping you create and preserve this memory for your 
child.  Here's how it works.  Work with your child as they write their 
letter to Santa.  Secretly craft a response from Santa and mail it in a 
second envelope to North Pole, Alaska Post Office.  The Postal elves will 
postmark and mail Santa's response back to your child.  To make this holiday 
activity especially enjoyable, follow these suggested guidelines.

-- Beyond the traditional, "here's what I want" list, ask your child to 
write why the holiday season is special.  

-- Teach the child that proper addressing techniques include a return 
address -- otherwise Santa may not write back.

-- After you take the letter and tell the child you'll mail it, keep it 
in a safe place until you can write Santa's response.  If your child 
recognizes your handwriting, ask a friend or neighbor to rewrite it.

-- To make Santa's response extra special, beyond reminding the child 
that Santa knows if they've been bad or good, add a positive line or two 
about the child's recent accomplishment that was not included in the letter 
to Santa.

-- As a P.S., Santa might want to remind the child to be in bed at a 
certain hour, and hint that he and his reindeer appreciate holiday snacks 
left near the tree.      

-- Place Santa's response in a stamped envelope addressed to the child, 
and be sure to include the North Pole as the return address.  

-- Place this envelope into a larger, properly stamped, First-Class 
Mail or Priority Mail envelope and mail it to:
North Pole Christmas Cancellation
Postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks AK 99709-9998

The North Pole Post Office will postmark Santa's reply and place it in the 
mail stream.   

-- Make sure your camera's ready to record the excitement.

-- Save your child's letter, Santa's response, and the photo.  
Present them to your child years later in an album as a special gift.

North Pole postmark requests must arrive in Fairbanks before December 15, 
2003. As it gets closer to the holidays, consider mailing requests via 
Express Mail.  

Customers interested in obtaining the North Pole postmark on greeting cards 
should mail to the same address.  Make sure that stamped envelopes have 
inserts.  Empty envelopes can be damaged by high-speed sorting equipment.   

The Postal Service does not maintain a national "Letters to Santa" program.  
In 1912, Postmaster General Fred H. Hitchcock first authorized postmasters 
to allow individuals or institutions to use letters addressed to "Santa 
Claus" for philanthropic purposes. Today many children and people in need 
benefit from the kindness of strangers during the Holidays.   

The North Pole area, located just outside of Fairbanks, was homesteaded in 
1944 and subdivided for developed to attract the toy industry to manufacture 
items as made at the North Pole.  In 1953 the community became incorporated.  
A year later the North Pole Post Office first began issuing cancellations.   
Last year, North Pole cancellations totaled more than 600,000.  
Organizations and institutions, such as the North Pole Lions Club and the 
North Pole Middle School, volunteer to answer letters to Santa. More than 
70,000 letters were responded to last year. 

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