“Santa Express” ready to deliver

Local post offices providing special drop sites for letters to Santa

CHINCOTEAGUE, VA — The Postal Service began receiving letters addressed to Santa Claus more than 100 years ago. This year, several Eastern Shore post offices are making it easy for good little boys and girls to speed their wish list letters to Santa by setting up special “Santa Express” boxes in postal lobbies.

Chincoteague Postmaster Christine Dore’ came up with the idea to make it easy and convenient for parents and children to leave those important missives. “We have 35 offices up and down the Shore participating,” said Dore’, “so it will be easy to deposit the letters in our specially marked Santa Express boxes from Monday, November 26 through Friday, December 14.” Letters deposited in Santa Express boxes by December 14 will ensure the jolly, but very busy, elf can write his reply before Christmas. Dore’ says postal employees will also collect Santa letters during the Chincoteague Christmas parade on December 1.

Listed in alphabetical order, the offices with Santa Express boxes are: Accomac, Assawoman, Belle Haven, Birdsnets, Bloxom, Capeville, Cheriton, Chincoteague, Craddockville, Eastville, Franktown, Greenbackville, Greenbush, Hallwood, Harborton, Horntown, Keller, Locustville, Machipongo, Marionville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Nelsonia, New Church, Oak Hall, Onley, Painter, Parksley, Sanford, Saxis, Temperanceville, Townsend, Wachapreague, Willis Wharf and Withams.

There are more than 100 cities in the United States with holiday-related names – from Antlers, Evergreen and Nazareth to Partridge, Rudolph and Snowflake. The most popular holiday postmark is, of course, from North Pole, Alaska. A re-mailing program allows anyone, anywhere to obtain the special North Pole postmark by enclosing a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope in a larger stamped envelope addressed to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9998. Requests must arrive in Fairbanks by December 14 to ensure the mail is postmarked and delivered before Christmas.

The Postal Service anticipates Monday, December 17, to be the heaviest mailing day of the holiday season. In addition to this year’s traditional and contemporary Christmas issues, the Madonna of the Carnation and Holiday Knits stamps, four additional Holiday Celebration series stamps are also available: Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights; Kwanzaa, the celebration of family, community and culture; and Eid, the Muslim holiday stamp.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.