Shane McMahon's Ass
11-20-2009, 09:57 PM
It is one of the few writing traditions that has not fallen by the wayside in the world of e-mailing and texting.
But American children sending off letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole could be in for a disappointment this year - they are unlikely to get a reply.
The US Postal Service is stopping its system that any letters addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, get sent to the Alaskan town of North Pole where volunteer 'elves' write a personal reply on behalf of Father Christmas.
The move comes after it emerged that a volunteer in the postal service's wider Operation Santa programme was a registered sex offender. The scare was serious enough for it to impose tighter restrictions. It is these which now make the North Pole service unfeasible, local officials said.
The service said children could still write to Santa and get a reply, it is only letters sent specifically to Santa Claus, North Pole, which would be affected.
The letter programme is a revered Yuletide tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like sweet canes and streets have names such as Santa Claus Lane.
The town's mayor, Doug Isaacson, said he recognised caution was necessary to protect children but added: 'It's Grinch-like that the postal service never informed all the little elves before the fact.'
But American children sending off letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole could be in for a disappointment this year - they are unlikely to get a reply.
The US Postal Service is stopping its system that any letters addressed to Santa Claus, North Pole, get sent to the Alaskan town of North Pole where volunteer 'elves' write a personal reply on behalf of Father Christmas.
The move comes after it emerged that a volunteer in the postal service's wider Operation Santa programme was a registered sex offender. The scare was serious enough for it to impose tighter restrictions. It is these which now make the North Pole service unfeasible, local officials said.
The service said children could still write to Santa and get a reply, it is only letters sent specifically to Santa Claus, North Pole, which would be affected.
The letter programme is a revered Yuletide tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like sweet canes and streets have names such as Santa Claus Lane.
The town's mayor, Doug Isaacson, said he recognised caution was necessary to protect children but added: 'It's Grinch-like that the postal service never informed all the little elves before the fact.'