North Pole Mail Program Discontinued

Posted by Miss Cellania in Christmas on November 19, 2009 at 11:20 pm

The 2,100 citizens of North Pole, Alaska take Christmas very seriously. Since 1954, they’ve volunteered for Operation Santa, a program of the US Postal Service which answers letters to Santa Claus. The program has volunteers all over the country, and many letters are routed through Alaska to get the special North Pole postmark. However, the USPS is discontinuing the practice of sending letters to the town of North Pole.

Anchorage-based agency spokeswoman Pamela Moody said dealing with the tighter restrictions is not feasible in Alaska.

“It’s always been a good program, but we’re in different times and concerned for the privacy of the information,” she said.

Moody stressed that kids around the world can still send letters to Santa Claus. The Postal Service still runs the giant Operation Santa Program in which children around the world can have their letters to Santa answered, and the restrictions do not affect private organizations running their own letter efforts.

But what will change are the generically addressed letters to “Santa Claus, North Pole” that for years have been forwarded to volunteers in the Alaska town. That program will stop, unless changes are made before Christmas.

North Pole residents are upset over the changes, and also unhappy that North Pole cancellations will now be stamped in Anchorage instead of Fairbanks, which is only 15 miles from North Pole. Link -via Consumerist

(image credit: AP/Sam Harrel)

 
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World's Largest Santa Snow Sculpture

Posted by Alex in World Records on December 26, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Christmas has come and gone and if you’re going through Santa Claus withdrawal syndrome, here’s a post for you: the world’s largest Santa Claus snow sculpture in Harbin, China.

China’s freezing northern city of Harbin is building what organizers say is the world’s largest Santa Claus ice sculpture.

The giant Father Christmas, 160 meters (525 ft) long and 24 meters (79 ft) high, centers on an enormous face of Father Christmas, complete with flowing beard and hat.

Its huge size and unseasonably warm temperatures have made the job especially challenging, said Tang Guangjun, one of the sculptors.

"It is even bigger and higher than last year’s, and more difficult. The weather swings between warm and cold, so it becomes very wet and slippery on the ice. It is very dangerous for us," he told Reuters Television.

Link (Photo: Sheng Li/Reuters) – via Weird Asia News (who has the video clip)

 
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Penguins in Santa Suits

Posted by Miss Cellania in Animal, Christmas on December 23, 2008 at 3:39 pm

What could be cuter? Penguins at Everland Park in South Korea aren’t used to snow, so their keepers outfitted them with suits to wear the first time they used their new snow run. Link (embedded video) -via Metafilter

 
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