Throughout modern history, children have been sending letters to Santa.

Letters telling about how good they’ve been all year, how they’ve always eaten their Brussels sprouts, and of course, listing what they want to find waiting under the tree on the big morning. The letters are sent off to the North Pole, and then the waiting and wondering begin.

Did Santa get it?

Will he bring what I asked for?

Will he somehow know that I really fed my Brussels sprouts to the dog?

I sure wish Santa would write back and let me know!

Well, Santa must know that Edmonds is a special kind of place, because for many years that’s exactly what’s been happening here.

For decades, Edmonds children have been dropping off letters to Santa in the big red postal box in front of the Edmonds Log Cabin, and have received handwritten, personalized return letters (Mrs. Claus and the elves help…Santa is pretty busy this time of year, you know). They answer the children’s specific questions, and add personal notes about holiday preparations at the North Pole, like what kind of cookies Mrs. Claus is baking, and how the reindeer are getting ready for the big journey.

This is a lot of work at a very busy time of year, so of course, Santa couldn’t do it without some very special Edmonds helpers.

It all started more than a quarter century ago when a young Edmonds Parks Department employee named Rich Lindsay put a bright red postal box in front of the Log Cabin on Fifth Avenue…and lo and behold, letters started appearing in the box! Lots of letters. All addressed to Santa.

Rich’s wife Lana was immediately recruited as First Deputy Elf for Edmonds! Her job: Sort through the letters and help respond to each one.

And so it happened. Each year Lana would collect scores of letters and help Santa Claus make sure that each and every child got a personal answer. But more letters kept arriving every year, and in 1999 Lana’s daughter Janine Harles began helping out.

Janine took over completely two years later, and soon recruited other elves to help with stuffing and decorating envelopes, stamping and posting letters, and the myriad other tasks necessary to handling Santa’s correspondence from Edmonds.

“We receive between 250 and 500 letters each year,” she said, “and each one with a return address receives a hand-written response, mailed in time to arrive before Dec. 25.”

Last year Janine was sorting through a stack of letters in the Edmonds Starbucks when Elena Umeno, a Starbucks employee, noticed and got curious.

“I went over and talked with her. When Janine told me what she was doing, I asked right away how I could help,” said Elena. “Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year, and I just immediately knew I had to be part of this.”

“Elena has been a fantastic helper,” said Janine. “And she couldn’t have come along at a better time. Other commitments are forcing me to cut back on the time I can give to handling Santa’s correspondence, and I really needed more help.”

This year Janine will be stepping down as First Deputy Elf for Edmonds, and passing the job on to Elena.

“Janine will stay on as a helper, but from here on I will be in charge,” she said.

So the tradition continues. And thanks to a very dedicated group of local elves, Edmonds children will continue to find letters hand-written from the North Pole in their mailboxes, signed by Santa himself.

Yes, Edmonds, there is a Santa Claus.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel