This story is sponsored by Krogman Auto:
Canada Post is stepping up again this year to ensure Santa Claus receives all the letters from kids attending the Wallaceburg Christmas parade on Saturday.
Cindy Daoust, manager of community investment for Canada Post, told the Sydenham Current she is more commonly known this time of year as Holly T. Elf – Santa’s Chief Postal Elf.
“Right now you wouldn’t believe, it has actually been a very, very busy spot the last month or so at the North Pole Post Office, because we are getting ready for the 1.5 million letters that are going to start arriving. Well actually they have already started trickling in but the bulk of them are going to arrive in the next few weeks,” Holly T. Elf said.
“We have got Santa’s letterhead all ready to go, we have got his pens and pencils at the ready for him,” she said. “We have got computers ready to look up postal codes if he needs any help with addressing. Basically we have just got everything ready to go for that onslaught of mail that is about to hit.”
Holly T. said there is a special address the kids should have on their envelope.
“Even if they are picked up at a parade, the people walking in the parade are going to give them to the local Post Office and they are going to mail them up here to the North Pole Post Office so they need to know Santa’s address.”
The address is:
Santa Claus
North Pole
H0H 0H0
Canada
“Then those letters will find their way up here to the North Pole Post Office where Santa will sit down and answer each and every one of them,” she said.
Holly T. said there are a couple of golden rules for kids dropping off the letters during the parade.
“It is really really, really important to make sure kids have their return addresses on the letter,” she said. “Santa may know where you live but his Postal Elves need some help to get that mail back to him. So make sure to have the return address on them.”
Holly T. said Santa likes to see different things in the letters, not just wish lists.
“I will let you know that Santa often relays to us that while wish lists are important for the Workshop Elves, the letters that Santa really, really loves are the ones where the boys and girls share a little bit of information about themselves,” Holly T. said.
“What are they doing in school, if they are being good to their little brothers and sisters, how they are helping out, or what their favourite subjects are. So it’s not just about the wish list. It is important, but Santa also likes to know what’s going on and what they are thinking. They can tell him a joke, they can tell him a story or whatever to make it an interesting letter for Santa because Santa gets a lot of letters. The more interesting the better.”
Holly T. added: “Something to make Santa smile… he loves drawings. Mrs. Claus loves the drawings too. She hangs them all over the North Pole. Her workshop and kitchen are just covered in drawings. Drawings and stories make Santa’s day.”
Staff from the local Canada Post post office in Wallaceburg will be gathering the Santa letters during the 46th annual Knights of Pythias Christmas Parade on Nov. 14.
The parade starts at 2 p.m. and the theme this year is Walt Disney.
Organizers are encouraging people to come with their floats early at around 1 p.m. to get setup on Arnold Street. The route will follow the same path as usual, down Dufferin, right onto Nelson and then wrapping up at the St. Clair Catholic District School Board parking lot on Duncan Street.
The group is also hoping to break the record for most lawn tractors in a parade. The record currently sits at over 800. Back in 2013, the Wallaceburg parade included nearly 300 lawn tractors.
For more information, call Jerry Blake at 519-358-3983 or by email at blakeynsons@hotmail.ca.
This article is sponsored content and is a part of our “Keep It Local Business Spotlight” feature. Contact Dana Haggith for more information – 519-784-4610 or dana@sydenhamcurrent.ca.
