Meet the Duo Behind Santa’s Mailbox

by | Dec 2024

The Santa Mailbox in Hudson

Photos: Gary and Richelle Jader

Gary and Richelle Jader respond to hundreds of letters each holiday season.

Six years ago, a Hudson, Wisconsin, couple was asked a simple question with significant impact: Would they promise to write back?

Gary and Richelle Jader thought long and hard before agreeing to take on their next-door neighbors’ Santa Mailbox—a holiday fixture on historic Third Street.

Each year, neighborhood kids drop off letters to Santa at the candy cane red mailbox with the hope of a merry Christmas. And every child receives a response from Santa’s helpers, imbued with that same spirit of the season.

Hello, Santa! Letter

Santa’s Mailbox has received up to 300 letters in a single year.

So when Santa’s original helpers decided to move, the future of the mailbox weighed on their mind. “The neighbors were moving and didn’t want their box to leave the street,” Richelle says. “They put a lot of thought into it before offering it to us.”

The mailbox appears like many extraordinary things, in the dark of night. Neighborhood children will wake up to see the colorful box on the curb on the day after Thanksgiving, the same day downtown Hudson is lit for the holidays.

Letters pour in throughout December, and families often turn dropping off this precious mail into photo opportunities. Standing beside a lamp post, the red mailbox channels the spirit of the season. A century-old Victorian home, dressed in all its Christmas splendor, stands in the background.

The letters, which have totaled as many as 300 over a single Christmas season, are all addressed to a bearded man wearing red. “There isn’t another being in the world that matches Santa,” Richelle says. There are lots of lists, as kids hope Santa’s bag is heavy with toys—and puppies. There are also letters that serve as a reminder of what Christmas is all about.

Letter to Santa

“One letter writer said they didn’t need a gift, and that their best friend had cancer and that they just wanted her to have a good Christmas,” Richelle says. “Another said his best friend’s parents were getting a divorce and that he might not see his friend again, ‘Santa, can you make sure he has a good Christmas?’

“Oh, there are tears,” Richelle says.

Often, the letters are accompanied by a note from a parent. “They mostly come from moms, and they write about their kids in the coolest ways,” Richelle says.

Richelle’s responses are meant to be inspirational. The letters talk about being active listeners, good siblings and kind friends. Helping around the house gets mentioned, as does helping out one’s parents. Mostly, Richelle’s responses spread hope. “The kids’ level of belief has me believing,” Richelle says. “That allows me to manifest Santa as I write back.”

Letter to Santa

Gary Jader doesn’t help with writing the letters. He’s not allowed. “I don’t want anyone to be freaked out by my handwriting,” Gary says. “If you see it, you think something is terribly wrong.” Richelle hears this and laughs. “I want the voice to be consistent,” she says.

While Gary doesn’t write responses, he’s most definitely one of Santa’s helpers. “The letters are so heartfelt,” he says. “When you tear and well up reading some of them, you know they have power.”

The Santa Mailbox Book

The Jaders self-published a book about their Santa mailbox experience. They say it “gives voice to the light, the spark, the magic that children inspire through their letters to Santa.” The Santa Mailbox, with visuals by Anita Jader, is available at thesantamailbox.com, Amazon and Chapter2 Books in Hudson.

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