USPS TO SHUT DOWN ‘DEAR SANTA’ LETTER DELIVERY

Over the 52 years that he’s been trying to steal Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ “Grinch” has been played by everyone from Boris Karloff to Jim Carrey. But it appears that this year, it may be the U.S. Post Office (USPS) starring in that villainous role.

On Thursday, the USPS said they would no longer deliver “Dear Santa” letters to North Pole, Alaska — where a team of volunteers has answered thousands of letters from children every year since 1954.

According to the Associated Press:

Postal Service officials said they are tightening rules in such programs nationwide after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency’s Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to make changes to the program. [...]

The letter program is a revered holiday tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane. Volunteers in the letter program even sign the response letters as Santa’s elves and helpers.

North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson agreed that caution is necessary to protect children. But he’s outraged North Pole program should be affected by a sex offender’s actions on the East Coast — and he thinks it’s wrong that locals just found out about the change in recent days.

The volunteer “elves” aren’t going quietly, though. The group has met with the USPS to come up with an alternative.

Chief elf Gabby Gaborik says he is working with local government officials to gain possession of 101 Santa Claus Lane, which allow children to write to a physical address and bypass the new USPS regulations.

So will the Grinch win? We’ll find out…

Photo: AP