Avery’s Farm Market in Beaver Bank, N.S., may not seem geographically close to the North Pole but for the next few weeks, it’s offering a direct link to the big guy in red for local children.
The market has invited kids to drop off their letters and wish lists to Santa over the past couple of years. Now, with the Canada Post strike hitting the one-week mark, Avery’s is anticipating a higher-than-usual demand for its special service.
“Before we even put (the mailbox) out, we had a bunch of people asking, ‘Hey, when is it coming out? Are you still doing it this year?’” said Cameron Day, the market’s supervisor.
“We’re pretty happy people are looking forward to it now.”
Children can drop off their letters until a week before Christmas, and pick up a personalized reply from Santa Claus a few days later.
“Once they find out about it and as soon as it gets to that time of year, we get a bunch of kids, and we make sure we leave candy canes and that for them as well when they come back,” explained Day, who gets to act as one of Santa’s elves this time of year.
More than 55,000 Canada Post workers went on strike last Friday, halting mail and parcel services across the country. Some post offices have also been shuttered amid the job action.
For more than 40 years, Canada Post has delivered letters for Santa — and volunteers have helped with replies. The Crown corporation says it handled about 1.4 million replies to Santa last year.
A spokesperson from Canada Post told Global News on Wednesday that as a result of the national strike, “we are unable to get mail to and from Santa in the North Pole.”
“It is our hope that postal operations can resume as quickly as possible at this critical time for customers. When operations do resume, we will help Santa by delivering a response to every letter sent to him this year,” spokesperson Lisa Liu wrote.
Day says Avery’s is prepared to step up — and do its part in making sure the holiday magic continues.
“It’s pretty important to us that we get to do something that makes sure the kids get their Santa letters out,” he said.