Postal workers deliver on Dear Santa letters

Such priorities are the stuff of prayers and miracles - not the kind of thing a man with a penchant for red suits and elves might stuff in a sack and ferry down a chimney.

Postal workers who volunteered this week to play Santa and answer nearly 200 letters winging their way from Tucson neighborhoods to the North Pole confronted indecipherable scrawl, misspellings, rather spirited drawing and plenty of evergreen-and-holly charm.

Katelin said she hoped to get a doll since she was "extra-super good this year."

And a whale would be nice.

Another child wrote about enjoying sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving and hoped Mrs. Claus was a good cook.

Melanie gushed, "You are my favorite person. Thank you for bringing presents too everyone. Your the nices people ever."

If you thought Santa had a racket going with the free milk and cookies, you should see the haul he's getting this season.

One little girl sent a small handful of almonds. The outside of the envelope reads, "The nuts are for you."

One child enclosed eyeglass wipes.

Three pennies were taped to another letter (and given this economy, Santa might need any help he can get.)

There were staff favorites. One boy, who wrote he had fish living in assorted pots and pans, wanted fish food and an aquarium. If Santa brought the aquarium, he was under strict orders not to let the fish see him bring it in since it was a surprise.

Another boy wrote that he wanted to cancel his last order. Instead, he now wanted a new Razor bike. He had cut out a coupon and used a rather inordinate amount of electrical tape to make triple-sure it was secured to his letter.

Some kids fully embraced the materialism of Christmas. One girl, for example, had two full pages of toy needs, from a not-so-bright night light for her room to trappings for her baby doll.

But others had a very specific gift in mind. Remy wanted a laser pointer and a phone. But if she could have only one, she wanted the phone. And for good measure, she drew the exact phone she had in mind. "It's one of those slide-out phones," she wrote in the margin.

This is the first year the National Association of Letter Carriers has turned its union office into Santa's workshop, after privacy concerns threatened to end the popular program, which has been answering kids' letters since 1912.

David Fort, 50, was the beneficiary of the almonds - although he had to admit, in retrospect, it was making envelope-licking duties a bit tricky.

"You hear all the time that kids are wilder these days and kind of bad, but my overall impression is that these kids are very courteous," he said.

Indeed. One fretted that she hoped it wasn't too cold in the North Pole.

Mario wrote to assure Santa that he shouldn't "worry about people not believing in you. Like those people in my class. I still believe. Keep up the good work." He asked for a photo of Santa with Mrs. Claus, the elves and the reindeer.

Another child ended with, "Please write back. And please use a cool stamp. I collect them."

The motley collection of a half-dozen Santa volunteers were having a pretty jolly time themselves.

One request prompted an enthusiastic discussion of Air Hogs. No one seemed to know what they were, but they were all in agreement that it sounded pretty cool and if you were a kid, you would want one for sure.

Those who were wearing Santa hats gave up halfway through their stints, their temperatures rising. "Whew. How does Santa do it?" joked Dan Versluis, president of branch 704 of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

It was a chance to give back. And to remember what it was like to be young, when blinking airplane lights in the sky could be Rudolph.

"I can relate with these kids," Fort said, noting he was a firm believer until he was in his early teens. "I know how important it is to believe. I never got a letter back, though."

Versluis, now 47, recalled that when he was about 5 years old, he sent a letter to Santa, asking for a G.I. Joe. He remembers watching that mailbox every day. And when someone in the postal service back then sent a letter, signed by Santa, he remembers flying into the house with the letter raised in his hand. He forgot the rest of the mail. And he did get the G.I. Joe.

Versluis said he braced himself for an onslaught of heartbreak, given circumstances. "I was prepared to see so many sad stories that there was no way we'd be able to help them all. So I guess it's kind of nice to know that didn't happen."

Marty Hicok, 52, said she did notice kids asking for gifts for their parents. One asked for a car for his mother. Another asked for a coat. Another wanted jeans for both parents.

"That was really sweet. It made me feel fortunate that I have what I have. It makes you want to reach out more. This is what the holidays are about."

One of the form letters tells kids they may not get everything they asked for. But it reminds them that love is the best gift of all.

Zoe would agree. In addition to a stuffed dog and a blue digital camera, she added, "I would also like a wonderful Christmas for everybody in the world."

Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at 573-4243 or rbodfield@azstarnet.com