Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008

Pasco mail carriers help with Santa's letters

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

PASCO -- Letters to Santa started arriving at the Pasco post office in October. Most are from the Tri-City area, but as word has gotten out that Santa has particularly diligent helpers in Pasco, they've started to show up from farther away -- like Florida, where one letter addressed simply "North Pole" found its way to Pasco last week.

"I read them all," said Lori Doty, a rural carrier and Santa's No. 1 helper in Pasco.

And then she makes sure that Santa sends a reply to any letter that's arrived by a few days before Christmas and has a return address.

No surprise: Children are clamoring for electronics this year, from cell phones to video game systems, most requested by brand name.

But the letters also show faith in the magic of Santa and a glimpse into a child's heart.

The children's letters are in their words.

"I don't want a toy or a doll," wrote Denisha. "All I want for X-mas is a hippopotumis."

She dreams of running down the stairs on Christmas morning, opening her eyes and seeing a hippopotamus standing by the tree, she told Santa.

That's not the only request that Santa might not have in stock.

Kelcie wants a meat-eating plant, Allyson wants a lizard and Josh wants a picture of an elf and a cleaning trolley.

All Briana wants is a visit from Santa to her elementary school class. She gave her room number and suggested that 1 p.m. Monday would be a good time.

Emily's request is more practical, but she did take time to chat. "I hope you had a refreshing vacation," she said in her letter, and thanked Santa for the toys he brought last year.

This year she wants an electric toothbrush, she said.

"But wut I really want is for my mom and dad to move the kitty litter out of my bathroom on cristmas morning," she wrote.

One little girl, who forgot to sign her name, warns Santa that "what I would love for Christmas is a lot of things."

First on the list is "pretty, pretty princess dresses." Farther down the list past a pink cell phone and Barbie house she added, "I forgot to tell you that it wouldn't be much trouble if the dresses were wide and the bottom big."

She's not thinking of herself only, though. "This might sound cheesy but I want all the homeless people to be flushed with food, clothes and helpful tools," she wrote. And she'd like "a secret picture of Cameron (ssshhh)" and please, no more office supplies for Christmas, she said.

There are letters from children who include lists of dozens of toys. Adam, who's list filled an entire page, ended with a businesslike "Thank you for reading my letter."

Isaiah asks only for a portable video game system. "You see I haven't been getting what I was wishing for on Christmas lately not to sound stingy or anything," he wrote. "So I was asking if you would get me that for Christmas."

Ethan asks for a cell phone or books, and then adds that he's asking for just one of them.

Several children leave the choice of gifts in Santa's hands, like the child who asks for a pink fishing pole but then says "I would be happy with anything that you can find for me. Just remember I am a girl and I like girl things."

Ending up on the naughty list was a worry for many children.

"I have been very clean and tidy this year. Just not that much with my room," wrote Zoe. She has been good about brushing her teeth and eating healthy food.

"I know I'v been bad," wrote another girl. "it's Dakota my sister that makes me mad and I know you think this is an exsous but I love my sister."

Plenty of children took time to request gifts for others. Rebecca, thinking big, asked Santa to bring her mother $1 million.

Another child asked only that her mom and dad get along. Johnnie wrote that her brother can't talk but she would like him to have a pirate ship and pirate costume.

Some years the Pasco post office ends up sending a letter or two to social service agencies, such as a request from a child to visit a dentist. But there haven't been any needing to be forwarded this year so far.

"A lot of times we do not get them until the very end when kids start feeling pressure," Doty said.

Doty, who's helped Santa send out about 150 letters so far this year, knows her work is appreciated. Josh, the boy who wants a cleaning trolley, asked for the name of the reindeer in the picture that Santa sent him last year from the Pasco post office.

And many of the letters to Santa end with a wish that Doty knows will come true.

"Please write back."