Don't panic, Virginia, letters to Santa Claus may still reach the North Pole.
There's word from North Pole, Alaska, this morning that volunteers there have met with U.S. Postal Service officials to try to work out a way that children's letters to Santa can still be sent to the town — where for decades volunteers have taken the time to send back answers.
The program is in jeopardy because of new, stricter Postal Service rules designed to ensure that the volunteers in such programs around the nation don't have access to the names and addresses of children. There's concern about the possibility of registered sex offender getting such information — one such person had volunteered at a Maryland location last year.
NPR's Todd Holtzman, the son, nephew and cousin of "proud U.S. postal workers," writes that the Postal Service's new rules are "another overreaction in a world grown foggy with fear."
As he says, the famous 1897 newspaper editorial known as "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," offers some solace. In case you haven't read that holiday classic in a while, here's a link to the Newseum's online copy.
He doesn't like what the Postal Service is thinking.
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