Plano postman answers Letters to Santa

If they could e-mail or text message Santa, they would. But instead, children are taking pen to paper to write and send letters and wish lists to the North Pole.

Though many letters go unanswered, Jeff Peavy has taken it upon himself for the last 20 years to ensure each Letter to Santa originating from the Plano area gets a reply.

“I’m not doing it for the fame, and I’m not doing it to make a name of myself; I really just want to keep the spirit of Christmas alive,” he said. “I get a big kick out of knowing that I’m putting a smile on a child’s face with a response from Santa.”

Peavy notifies Plano-area postmasters in early November of his intention to write the letters. As children count down the days until Christmas and send their wish lists to the North Pole, postmasters collect the letters and reroute them for delivery to the Plano Wildcat Station at Parker Road and Independence Parkway where Peavy works.

“I’ve gotten lists as early as Nov. 1, and I’ll get them pretty regularly right up until Christmas, and sometimes even after,” he said. “I average about 180-200 letters every year.”

Peavy said he reads every letter, and using a Christmas-themed letterhead and postage stamps, he’ll write a personalized letter back to each child.

“I’ve heard of other districts that have a roomful of clerks answering letters, but they’re on the clock. What I do is at no cost to the Plano-area post offices,” he said. “For me, Santa’s Workshop is my dining room table.”

But that doesn’t mean he answers solely letters with a Plano postmark.

“I’ve sent letters to children all around Texas and even some in Florida, New York, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Colorado,” he said.

From bicycles and dolls, to Legos and remote control cars, to computers and hand-held electronic games, through the years Peavy said he’s seen a change in what children ask for at Christmas.

“Some letters are hilarious, but others will bring a tear to your eye,” he said. “The ones that stand out are the ones that ask for things for their parents or siblings because the family is going through some hard times. One year, a girl asked for her cousin to come home because he was deployed with the Air Force. Those are the ones that get you and hopefully a letter from Santa will help them temporarily forget their situation.”

Knowing how children cherish their letter from Santa keeps Peavy writing the letters every year.

“When they receive the letter, I know it will bring a smile on their face,” he said. “It’s the awe and hope of opening a letter from Santa and seeing your name on it. That’s what Christmas is about.”

Even after he’s retired from the post office, Peavy said he’d still like to continue writing letters if he has the opportunity.

“It’ll be 40 years with the post office next May, but somehow and some way, I hope to keep writing back to the kids,” he said. “If I can get a hold of those letters after I retire, this is something I want to keep doing.”

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