If send a letter to Santa is common, receive an answer is rarer. Even more so when everything happens in a single municipality. This is the case in Marigné-Laillé (Sarthe), where the town hall created a Christmas mailbox five years ago. Every year, these are about fifty letters that the town hall – sorry… Santa Claus – receives.
Cathy Brené, the deputy in charge of culture, tourism, community life and communication at Marigné-Laillé, is the pen of Santa Claus. She was the one who proposed this idea, and who responds in a personalized way to the children. “It takes time, you have to respond to each child individuallyincluding for large families,” she explains.
An exchange between Santa Claus and children
Certainly, the objective of this idea is, for children, to have a response from Santa Claus. However, it is not uncommon for him to also receive a gift. “Scoubidous, bracelets, candies… there is a real exchange between them” smiles Cathy Brené.
Of the 168 schoolchildren in the village, a good number have already corresponded with Santa Claus. For some, like Emma, in first grade, she no longer counts the years “I think it’s been five years… we’ve been talking to her since we were born!”
The municipality is doing this well in advance: installed on November 18 near the village barn, behind the church, the mailbox will be accessible until December 15. This way, children will be able to receive their personalized letter from Santa Claus for December 25: one more gift under the tree.
Swiss
