CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Dec. 19, 2018
For many years in the 70s and 80s, Santa had a secret helper from the Shawville area. The jolly old fellow’s wrists weren’t what they used to be, and he required some assistance to keep up with the enormous amount of correspondence he was receiving.
Local school teacher Ann Rogers was up to the task and aided the big man in red for nearly a decade according to her daughter Heather, who recently discovered the massive trove of letters that she saved all these years.
“There was probably two to three hundred,” Heather estimated. “I read every one of them.”

Recognizing some of the names, Heather began to return the letters to their authors, nearly forty years after they had been penned. She estimated that she returned about 70 and included a short note explaining the situation.
“It’s kind of a nice keepsake, there were some really cute ones,” she added. “Things like ‘Don’t get stuck in the chimney.’ One boy asked for a ‘vacation from his brother, so he could get some peace and quiet.’”
Heather noted that her mother was the perfect candidate to become a secret helper for Kris Kringle.
“Mom loved it, she really did,” she said. “She loved children and she really loved Christmas.”
Leslie Dickson was one of the grown-ups who got their letters back earlier this year.
“I had no idea, I didn’t even remember writing them, but it was so sweet and such a lovely surprise,” she said, noting that she was four years-old when she penned her request to Santa.
“I wrote them on newsprint actually,” she said. “I probably wrote them in The Equity office. I asked for a necklace and a bracelet and a ring, I believe, and I asked for a truck for my baby brother.”
Dickson said she was floored that Ann had kept all the letters, and was grateful that Heather took the time to return them.
“I wrote that 35 years ago,” she said. “It’s just the sweetest thing in the world. It shows her commitment to the community.”
Heather said that she hopes the letters made some people smile and remember the magic of Christmas and their carefree days as youngsters.
“Most people were pretty excited,” she said. “I’ve had some responses and people really enjoyed it.”