For West Covina’s 100th year anniversary, they hosted several Christmas events Nov. 27 – Dec. 8. Some of these events included toy drives, Christmas parades, and Santa’s village. Anyone was welcome to bring a letter to Santa, each required a self addressed stamped envelope to the West Covina City Hall. In return, all participants got a personalized response from Santa.
5th grader Vida Muñoz is a huge fan of Christmas and enjoyed the overall experience of writing a letter to Santa telling him what she wanted for Christmas.
“I really hope I’m able to get slime and a Squishmallow for Christmas because they are my two favorite things,” said Muñoz.
Muñoz also explained that as long as you believe that Santa’s real, you can send letters to the North Pole and hope to get what you ask for. In addition, Muñoz added how writing this letter was a fun and creative way to express her feelings for Christmas.
While writing his letter to Santa, junior Michael Araya talked about the childhood memories he made from writing them.
¨The only memories I really have of Christmas as a kid is sitting down and making a letter for Santa and putting it in my Christmas stocking,¨ said Araya.
Although Araya has grown up and understands Santa isn’t real, he still enjoyed writing to Santa as his letter lets his family know what he wanted without him having to ask. Along with its convenience, writing down a list helped him to narrow things down what he desired the most.
“Writing this letter was very fun and entertaining because I normally write a letter alone but I was able to write a letter with my girlfriend and sister this year which I really enjoyed,” said Araya.
Writing letters to Santa is not only fun for children, but for parents. Muñoz’s dad Sergio Muñoz explains seeing the anticipation of the countdown to Christmas morning and watching his children open presents they got from Santa is something he looks forward to.
¨l love waking up to my kids Christmas morning and being able to see their smiles on their faces while opening gifts,¨ said Muñoz.
Celebrating Christmas is one of the most exciting parts of the holiday season, although the organizers of Letters to Santa could not be reached for a statement the amount of people who attended speaks to the value of this event.
