BILLINGS — A magic mailbox appeared in downtown Billings along with the holiday decorations.
The mailbox, located in front of Big Dipper ice cream at 100 N. Broadway, sends letters directly to the North Pole.
Jonnell Kurschner, a mother of one, told MTN News on Friday her family was very excited to use the mailbox.
“My daughter Everleigh is three this year, so she’s really into Santa Clause and the Christmas spirit," Kurschner explained. "She knows that he’s bringing her lots of good toys, so we had to go send a letter to Santa this year."
Everleigh smiled while sending off her letter, and said goodbye to it once it made it safely through the slot.
The Kurschner family was joined by the D'Ambrosia family. Micayla D'Ambrosia said her family was thrilled to plan a day around mailing a letter to Santa.
“We just thought it would be a fun thing to do with friends, to come down here and we’re going to get some ice cream after," D'Ambrosia said. The D'Ambrosias' oldest child, Becklea, was ecstatic to send her letter to the big man in red.
With all of these letters sent off, MTN looked into if Santa ever responds.
Alicia Donovan, a real estate agent for Montana Real Estate Brokers, explained Tuesday that her company has some special connections at the North Pole.
“We’re excited. We have a couple of connections up at the North Pole, and we just wanted to share those with people,” Donovan said. “We had about 125 kids whose names were submitted for us to kind of lean into that, and they’re getting their letters this week. It’s really neat."
Donovan explained that through the company's special connections, they can assist in getting letters from the North Pole to the children in Montana.
“The letters that we’re getting are coming right from the North Pole. So it is hand-stamped, postmarked from the North Pole, their names are on it, their addresses are on it. It’s legit,” Donovan said. “I just heard from one of the first family members who put in a request, said his nephew got it last night, and he was ecstatic."
While the company isn't accepting any more requests this holiday season, interested parents can keep an eye out next year for another chance to apply.
“The spirit of Christmas comes from the joy that comes, and the twinkle that comes from a child’s eye," Donovan said. "To be able to do something so minuscule, the sharing of this connection, and be able to share that in the community, we all need as much of that as we can get."
Whether you're sending a letter to Santa or receiving one, Santa has plenty of helpers in Billings.
To learn more about the magic mailbox, please click here.
To learn more about letters from Santa, please click here.
