In a small community park in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood of Longmont is a mailbox where letters for Santa can be dropped off.
In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa had to take a break. Young people missed being able to visit the jolly man to share their holiday wishes. Lola and Steven Hamby’s grandson was among them.
Lola Hamby, a substitute teacher in the St. Vrain Valley School District, said it was all her grandson could talk about that year. He wanted to see St. Nick but couldn’t due to social distancing.
When Lola Hamby was a young child, her parents created a lot of magic around the idea of Santa that she looked forward to each year. Her love for the joy and magic that Santa brings each year never left her, she said.
When her grandson was not able to visit Santa during the pandemic, she was determined to find a way to create as much magic as she could. She and her husband found a mailbox to Santa at a local retail store and set it up in their neighborhood park. She encouraged her grandson to write a letter to Santa.
She also invited other neighborhood children to write letters.
Several neighbors dropped off letters to Santa. Those who included a return address received a letter in return.
For the last three years, the Hambys have placed the mailbox in their neighborhood park on Thanksgiving night. They have helped deliver the letters to Santa each year.
“I just want kids to feel that magic and hope. I just want them to feel that they can believe in Santa and that it’s okay to believe in that,” Lola Hamby said. “I just do it because I think it’s fun to do it and I think that kids need to have that magic still when they’re little.”
The Hambys invite all those still young at heart to drop off their letters to Santa in the park. Return addresses are not required to drop a letter off. If people would like to include their address, the Hambys will make sure Santa sends a reply in the mail.
