Letters from Santa to fill mailboxes again
Mountain Brook always makes its holidays special, and Christmas is no exception. Years after putting out special letter drops for Santa, the tradition continues, and residents will see the festive mailboxes around town, waiting to be filled with children’s letters.
The boxes sprang up in the early 2000s, but it wasn’t until a few years later that Santa began responding to the letters, to the surprise of many parents.
“I thought maybe it’d be nice to have them realize that the elves do pass these letters on to Santa,” said John Feagin, who answers the letters as Mountain Brook’s stand-in Santa. “There were probably two letters the first year I did it.”
Using just a postcard, if there was a return address on the letters, Feagin wrote back with help from his computer to write individualized responses more quickly.
“I think [the letters] generate a little excitement,” he said. “It might make them believe there really is a Santa Claus, or at least there’s a workshop.”
Feagin said he didn’t want to get specific when writing back, but kept the spirit alive by telling the children, “We’ll try to make your dreams come true,” even if that means hand-delivering the letters.
He usually stops by the mailboxes every other day, but one year as the holiday got closer, he wasn’t checking them as regularly.
“Three days before Christmas, I found three letters from my grandchildren,” he said, and he realized he needed to get Santa’s answers back to them quickly. So, he typed up the letters, drove to their house and put them in their mailbox for his grandchildren to find.
“My daughter called me later and said, ‘Man, we put those letters in that mailbox a week ago, Santa must be running late,” he said.
Feagin’s role as a stand-in for Santa has grown in popularity over the past years, and after a little publicity about his role as Santa, the number of letters to him exploded. “After last year’s article, I’ll bet you I had about 50 or 60 letters,” he said. “I may have to get a secretary [to help] if this all goes through again.”
The mailboxes will be put up the Monday before Thanksgiving and will be kept up through the holidays, but Feagin said this year he’s going to stop checking for new letters on Dec. 21 to allow for enough time for children to get his response — as long as there is a return address.
“Mountain Brook is a unique community,” said Feagin. “I’ve lived here 48 years, and I just think it makes Mountain Brook a little more special.”
Residents can look for the mailboxes at:
► Gilchrist, Mountain Brook Village
► Swoop, Mountain Brook Village
► Smith’s Variety, Crestline Village
► City Hall, Crestline Village