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Community Corner

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus and He Texts and Tweets

The old-fashioned letter to Santa is on the decline as e-mails are on the rise, according to an informal survey of North Fork post offices.

Mail for Santa is running a little light this year, according to a spot check of post offices on the North Fork, where there are fewer letters to the North Pole this year now that Santa is e-mailing everyone.

Yes, that's right, Santa Claus is communicating by e-mail. He also texts and has a big following on Twitter. E-mails are answered promptly.

If you want to send an old-fashioned letter to Santa, your best bet is to go to the Aquebogue Post Office where postmaster Mark Linnen has installed a special mailbox for your convenience. Letters will be accepted right up until Christmas Eve. Linnen, the postmaster in Aquebogue since 1982 makes sure all letters are delivered to The North Pole where they are answered personally. Linnen handles an average of 50 letters a year, but mail is not heavy this year.

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"We got 15 letters so far but it's not over yet," Linnen said.

The postmaster does not guarantee that Santa will deliver everything that is requested for Christmas. Some of the lists are very long, according to Linnen.

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"It's all in the wording," Linnen said. "We can't make any promises. But we want everyone to be happy. Some of the letters are sad.  I got a letter from a kid who asked that his Daddy be let out of jail. Another kid wanted their mother to be cured of cancer."

The U.S. Postal Service has been delivering mail to Santa for more than 100 years. In 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to allow post office employees to respond to these letters. By 1940 the service was swamped with mail headed for the North Pole and Operation Santa was established. Charities and private corporations were invited to participate in the project devoted to opening the mail and answering the letters.

Over the years, the letters have made their way into newspapers columns around the country and have been compiled into books. Some letters are sad, as Linnen pointed out, while others are humorous. This year columnists around the country have reported an increase in e-mail letters that focus on the economy. Many just like those from the children in Aquebogue ask for things for their parents. Among the letters culled from around the country are requests for new shoes for grandma and money for mommy to pay the bills. On a humorous note, one child wrote to Santa directing him to the milk and cookies and advised that Santa use the phone to order a pizza if he was really hungry.

Linnen set up a mailbox for Santa more than 20 years ago.

"I can't really remember when but I can tell you that some of the kids who used to come in and mail their letters to Santa are bringing their own children in now," he said.

Things were still quiet this week at the on the Main Road just opposite Laurel Lane where postal workers have not received any letters to the North Pole this season. Things were equally slow in South Jamesport where Santa has no mail as Christmas looms large. Last year, the South Jamesport Post Office got one letter. Postal workers attribute the decline in letters to the Internet as well as to the dwindling population of children in South Jamesport.

In, postal workers were reluctant to talk about Santa and directed calls to post office headquarters where a public relations director is assigned to answer questions. Only questions submitted by e-mail will be answered.

If you prefer to email Santa, check out www.emailSanta.com  or go to www.northpole.com. You can fill in the blanks on a letter and send it to Santa and get a reply almost instantaneously. Better yet, text Santa from the mall. You can listen to Christmas carols on the site and track Santa's movements when he leaves the North Pole on Christmas Eve or you can visit the workshop or check out Mrs. Claus in her kitchen and get some of her recipes for Christmas cookies.

Santa's replies to e-mails are as carefully worded as his replies to letters.

"Don't be sad if you don't get everything on your list because Santa wants you to be happy," the email advises and ends with "Merry Christmas".

According to Twitter, the reindeers told Santa they want to stop in Southold first this year.

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