Santa’s mailbox returns to Friday Harbor

The Cham­ber of Com­merce shares news about the return of a pop­u­lar island hol­i­day tradition.

The mail­box for let­ters to San­ta is back! You can drop off your let­ters to San­ta in the big, red, sea­son­al mail­box in front of Van Go’s Piz­za at 180 Web St. Every year, a team of ded­i­cat­ed vol­un­teer elves assist San­ta in respond­ing to the hun­dreds of let­ters from our community’s youth.

The orga­niz­ers remind par­ents and care­givers that the let­ters to San­ta must have a return address to receive a response, and the child’s name needs to be clear­ly print­ed or it will be addressed to My Dear Friend. Return times may vary — even by house­hold. The vol­un­teer elves try to respond to let­ters in the order they come in, but the elves work at dif­fer­ent paces as their own lives allow. To get a child’s orig­i­nal let­ter back, include a stamped enve­lope with return address and a note request­ing it back.

Each elf cre­ates a few orig­i­nal sto­ry tem­plates for reply let­ters to get through the hun­dreds received. For more per­son­al­ized respons­es, kids can ask ques­tions, or a care­giv­er can sneak in a note about what the child has done that year. The elves do not address a child’s gift request out of respect for care­givers’ choic­es and finan­cial situations.

The dead­line to drop off a let­ter and receive a response is Tues­day, Dec. 20.

This pro­gram is run entire­ly by vol­un­teers who put their love and free time into mak­ing it hap­pen. They do not get paid and do it for the love of Christ­mas. Fri­day Har­bor Trad­ing Post, the San Juan Island Cham­ber of Com­merce, and Van Go’s Piz­za are this year’s sponsors.

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.