Thanks to Ocean Beach Business Center, all children’s letters to St. Nick, both “naughty” and “nice,” will be answered once again through the “Letters for Santa” mailbox.
Sponsored by OBBC and set up in the indoor mall at 4967 Newport Ave., outside suites 10 and 12, the mailbox established by husband-and-wife team Jo and Chris Peregoy, co-owners and operators of OBBC, is now a fixture in the beach community’s Yuletide landscape.
“We are thrilled to be a part of family traditions year after year and to be able to see the children growing,” said Jo Peregoy noting, “We have letters from all over the world this year. It’s pretty amazing. We’re getting calls from all over San Diego to find out if the mailbox is up because people plan on making a special trip just to visit it and mail out their letter to Santa.”
Peregoy added word has gotten out that they are “in” now with Santa at the North Pole. “I’ve seen the program discussed in school PTA’s, in Facebook groups, etc. that are not related to OB,” said Peregoy. She added, “As you can see, we are very excited to see the growth and excitement the Santa Letters bring to the community. We’ve even heard that families use the pictures they take of their kids in front of the box as their annual holiday photo. To be a part of this tradition is amazing.”
Santa’s Mailbox goes up the week of Thanksgiving to make sure it’s in time for Shop Small Saturday. It goes back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.
Following is what the Peregoys say when asked about the origin of their mailbox: “The story we tell is that Santa lives in OB and we’re lucky enough to be able to host his mailbox every year,” said Jo. “We typically have a cut-off of Dec. 8, but since Santa lives in OB, we can try to make sure letters arrive before Dec. 23.”
Added Jo: “We cover the cost of everything, but if anyone wants to donate a book of stamps, it’s always helpful. A book of stamps has 20 stamps but covers 10 letters, since we use larger envelopes to accommodate the certificates and each letter has a ‘real’ wax seal on the back with Santa’s special stamp. Those are the reasons for the increased postage, but add to the uniqueness and authenticity the child feels when they receive their letter.”
If parents have any special information they want to be included in the letter to their children each year, they can just email the information to the Peregoys at [email protected]. “Make sure to include the child’s information so we can make sure it goes with the correct letter,” said Jo adding, “We do not make any promises of specific gifts. We just make sure to keep the messages positive.”
