Cards, Crafts And Letters From Santa
Christmas Cheer And Anniversary Celebration
Santa arrived at the historic College Park Airport on December 1 in his special “sleigh!” at the College Park Aviation Museum located at 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive in College Park, MD. This year the U.S. Postal Service participated in the fun to help celebrate the season and the 100th Anniversary of airmail.
When Santa arrived, he took pictures with visitors in the museum’s main gallery. Holiday arts and crafts were available for adults and children throughout the museum. There was also a card making station. Children of all ages made holiday cards or letters with a special postmark to commemorate the Santa Fly-in event and the 100th anniversary of airmail. USPS offered an assortment of holiday and Air Mail stamps. Any letters postmarked during Santa Fly-in were received by the USPS at the museum.
There is still a little time for any parent looking for a reply from Santa to their child’s letter – complete with a North Pole postmark. USPS postal elves have got you covered. Just follow these steps:
Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.
Affix a First-Class Mail stamp to the envelope.
Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope—preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope—with appropriate postage and address it to: North Pole Postmark, Postmaster 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998
“Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK postmaster no later than Dec. 16. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.
The Special postmark celebrates the communication milestone of mail traveling in an airplane, which led to the birth of America’s commercial airlines. The Post Office Department initiated regular U.S. Air Mail service from College Park Airfield in Maryland to New York City on Aug. 12, 1918. This 218-mile route was the first step in establishing a transcontinental route by air.
