COLLEGE PARK, MD — The U.S. Postal Service will lend Santa Claus a helping hand collecting letters from children at the College Park Aviation Museum’s annual Santa Fly-In on Saturday, Dec. 1, from noon to 4 p.m. The museum is located at 1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive, College Park, MD.

Watch Santa fly into historic College Park Airport with the help of his special "helicopter sleigh" at approximately 12:30 p.m. After landing, he’ll stroll into the museum’s Main Gallery to greet the children and have pictures taken. Many holiday arts and crafts workshops will be available, including one that offers children the opportunity to prepare letters to Santa for him to take on his journey back to the North Pole.

Children of all ages can add fun, festive seasonal flair to their holiday cards or letters with a special postmark to commemorate the Santa Fly-In event and the 100th anniversary of airmail. USPS will offer an assortment of holiday and Air Mail stamps. For more information about the Santa Fly-In event, please visit the College Park Aviation Museum website at: http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com/

For any parent looking for a reply from Santa to their child’s letter — complete with a North Pole postmark — postal elves have got you covered. Just follow these steps:

1. Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
2. Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
3. Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
4. Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.
5. Affix a First-Class Mail stamp to the envelope.
6. Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope — preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope — with appropriate postage and address it to:

North Pole Postmark
Postmaster
4141 Postmark Drive
Anchorage, AK 99530-9998

“Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK, Postmaster no later than Dec. 16. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest. Postal personnel at the Santa Fly-In event will be available to help complete and mail Letters from Santa.

The Post Office Department initiated regular U.S. Air Mail Service from College Park Airfield in Maryland to New York City on Aug. 12, 1918. This 218-mile route was the first step in establishing a transcontinental route by air.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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