Letter to Santa inspires mail carriers' search

ROCKFORD - There was something about that "Dear Santa" letter that made Paul Vogt stick it in his bills-to-be-paid box and keep it there for 17 years. Month after month, he looked at it and moved it, yet again, to the bottom of the stack. Unfinished business. Over time, the letter came to represent one of the most treasured episodes of Vogt's 30 years as a mail carrier. His wife, Janet, also worked for the post office. She delivered mail on a rural route in Roscoe for 25 years. They're both retired now. The special letter was written by a little boy on the west Rockford route Paul walked for 25 years. In those days, some carriers handled their own "Dear Santa" correspondence. Paul and Janet personally answered every letter they collected on their routes. They used a card provided by the U.S. Postal Service and often wrote a personal note from Santa to each child. "The letters were all, more or less, 'give me this or give me that,' " Paul said. "This one was the only one that didn't ask for anything." Out of all those hundreds of letters they collected and answered over three decades, the Vogts kept only one. It was from Willis Martin, a child of about 8 whose family lived in the 2300 block of Green Street in Rockford. It reads: "Dear Santa, last year you said you was coming to my house but you didn't come, but can you come now on Christmas Eve, and I hope you have a nice Christmas and one more thing to say, Merry Christmas." Well, that got to Paul and Janet. With permission from the boy's father, the couple bought a Christmas tree for the family and gifts for Willis and his sister. "I had the father come to the corner of Chestnut and Johnston and I gave him the tree, so it was just like Dad brought it home," Paul said. "And the presents were from Santa. As far as the kids were concerned, Santa did show up that year." Now, Paul would like to return the letter to Willis - if he could find him. Willis would be in his mid-20s now. Maybe he has children of his own who might appreciate the fact that wishes can come true. The family moved from the route before Paul retired in 1993. There's no Willis Martin in the telephone book, and the City Directory shows a different family living in the home the Martins once occupied. Paul, who's 75 now, said the letter struck a chord with him because there were some lean Christmases in his childhood, as well. "I grew up on a farm in Clinton, Wis., and my dad and mom were from Germany," he said. "With four kids, we were lucky if we got an apple for Christmas." He and Janet knew all the families on their routes in the years when people were less transient than they are now. "We watched people grow up and have kids of their own. We went to their weddings and funerals," he said. The children along Janet's rural route in Roscoe knew her as the "Tootsie Roll Lady" because she always had a piece of candy for children who met her at their mailboxes. "We had quite an experience with the post office," Paul said. "You get pretty close to people over 25 years. I still get Christmas cards from different (people) on my route." In retirement, the Vogts remain active in their community. This week Janet was busy baking Christmas goodies to deliver to widows and widowers of their acquaintance who need an emotional lift at the holidays. When the Santa letter came to hand as Paul was paying bills this fall, he decided that, as a gift to himself, this was the year to try to get it back to Willis Martin. Anyone with information about Willis Martin may call the Vogts at (815) 389-2915.