PASCO -- A Grinch-like decision by the U.S. Postal Service won't affect North Pole-bound Christmas wishes mailed by Tri-City children.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the Postal Service is discontinuing a national program begun in 1954 in North Pole, Alaska, where volunteers opened and responded to children's letters to Santa.
The majority of the letters instead will be routed to the Postal Services' nationwide Operation Santa program.
But a volunteer operation in the Tri-Cities that's independent of and not funded by the Postal Service won't be affected.
"I'm not paid to do this, I do this because it's something I like to do," said Lori Cramer, a Postal Service employee in Pasco.
Cramer said she was listening to the radio recently when she heard a report that the North Pole program was being canceled. She said Tri-City families should know it's not only going to continue here, but it also may be improved.
Cramer usually types and prints a standard letter that she returns to Tri-City kids who write letters to Santa. Her letters are complete with a postmark from the North Pole -- Santa's home, not the Alaskan town.
But this holiday season she's hoping to individualize each letter by including the recipient's name. "I want to make it a little more personal this year."
Cramer keeps a bin on her desk where letter carriers, mail sorters and other postal employees drop off letters to Santa.
According to The AP, the Postal Service began limiting programs similar to North Pole's in 2006.
The AP reported that last year a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa volunteer there as a registered sex offender.
Safety devices such as replacing addresses and names with bar codes can be instituted in larger cities, but not in small towns such as North Pole, which led to the program's cancellation.
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Pasco postal worker makes sure letters get to Santa
Pasco postal worker makes sure letters get to Santa
PASCO -- Lori Cramer doesn't know how some of the letters to Santa end up at the Pasco post office from places like Wisconsin, California or South Carolina.
Maybe it's a little of that magic at work that lets Santa circumnavigate the globe delivering billions of presents for good little children in the space of one night.
"They just show up," Cramer said.
Pasco mail center on chopping list
Pasco mail center on chopping list
Tri-City area mail could be sorted in Spokane, slowing delivery and costing postal worker jobs at Pasco's Processing & Distribution Center.
Pasco's facility is one of about 250 in the nation targeted by the U.S. Postal Service for possible closure because of the agency's financial troubles.
The Postal Service announced Thursday that it may close 252 of the 487 processing centers in the nation and reduce the delivery standards for first-class mail.
Residents oppose closure of Pasco mail facility
Residents oppose closure of Pasco mail facility
PASCO -- Almost 100 people shot their hands into the air when asked if they opposed the closure of the U.S. Postal Service's Pasco Processing & Distribution Center.
Loss of local jobs, how delivery changes would affect local businesses and the relatively insignificant savings were the concerns raised Tuesday by area residents during a public meeting at the Pasco Red Lion.
Pasco's facility is one of about 250 in the nation that the U.S. Postal Service is considering closing because of the agency's financial troubles. This year, the Postal Service is expected to lose $10.5 billion.
Mailman remembers real winters
Mailman remembers real winters
The National Weather Service and horticultural experts say this balmy weather is perfectly normal. They must not have lived here very long.
Mailman of 40 winters doesn't belittle this one
By Marilyn Druby, Tri-City Herald reporter
Published on February 2, 1969
Ethel M. Polillo
Ethel M. Polillo
Ethel M. Polillo, 83, of Kennewick, died Dec. 25 in Kennewick.
She was born in Ellensburg, and lived in the Tri-City area for 35 years.
She was a retired postmaster for the U.S. Postal Service.
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