ASHLAND — Santa’s Mailbox has returned to Ashland’s Corner Park for the second consecutive year.
Letters received between Dec. 1 and 21 with legible return addresses will receive a response from Santa, Mrs. Claus or the elves.
The bright red, magical mailbox was installed Sunday afternoon by the Coffy family. The longtime Ashlanders organized the mailbox’s debut last year.
“We have a family full of dreamers. It started over a family dinner discussion, and the more we talked about it, the more we thought we could put it in motion,” said Chris Coffy.
More than 300 letters were received last year. Children and adults alike dropped letters into the mailbox. All (with return addresses) received responses.
Many left thank you notes in the days following Christmas.
“We didn’t pull the box right away. We left it through the end of December, and when we picked it up, we found thank you cards and letters,” Coffy said. “There were notes from parents and older siblings saying thank you for doing this. That was moving.”
The Coffy’s anticipate at least 600 letters this year. Elves will empty the mailbox every evening.
“We want it to be something special to Ashland. We want it to become a tradition,” Coffy said.
Individuals from The Good Shepherd Senior Citizen Center, Ashland County Council On Aging and Ashland University are expected to help with letter writing.
Other local entities involved in the mailbox’s success include Coffy Creations Photography, Kiwanis, Coffy Properties, Greg Gault, Master Builders and Art Printing.
