Some ask for one special gift. Some ask for 50.
Others make special requests for their brothers, sisters and parents.
There's a lot of begging and pleading and even admissions of guilt.
But no matter what the hundreds of kids writing to Santa include in their letters sent through the Youngstown Post Office every year, nearly every one gets a response. Sue Nemcosky and her helpers make sure of it.
"You just never know what's going to be in them -- the next letter," said Nemcosky. "They're all hopeful. We try to get them at least a letter back, because they take the time to write theirs."
Nemcosky, who first worked at the post office in Warren for seven years, has been a secretary at the downtown Youngstown office for 18. She's been involved with the Santa letter tradition for most of that time, though the task of answering them is passed to various workers each year. This year is her turn.
The office gets 500 to 600 letters a year, she said. Some of them start coming in as early as July.
"They are the cutest things," said Nemcosky. "Basically just telling Santa what they want. Sometimes there's a lot of begging and pleading, I'll be good. Some of them are admissions of guilt, and they promise not to bother anyone anymore."
Most ask for toys and electronics: Xboxes, Nintendos, cell phones and lap tops. Ponies aren't a common request these days, she said, but puppies are.
"Most of them want puppies," said Nemcosky. "That's a pretty big responsibility. Sometimes they'll mention pets' names and to make sure to bring something for so and so."
Others ask for things that aren't material.
"One kid wanted his dad to get better," she said. "He broke his arm putting up Christmas lights. You'll get wishes for relatives who might be ill."
This year there were very few asking for food and clothing, she said, "and this time with the economy, you just never know." In the past, office workers have reached into their own pocketbooks to respond, pitching in for gifts or items for childrens' families in more serious situations.
But most of the time, the kids just get a letter back.
"We have an envelope we produce with a Santa on it," she said. "We type the child's name on the letter, put their name on the envelope and send back to the child. It's what we've been doing for years."
The office changes the letter up every year, she said, "because kids are pretty smart. They don't want the same letter as last year."
"Basically they're not promised anything," said Nemcosky. "We don't mention toys, just more like thanks for writing. We talk about the elves working hard, reindeer practicing up for the big night."
Some of the letters the office receives from the kids don't have return addresses, she said, but if there's a last name included -- and if it's not too common -- she'll check the phone book and call around to find the right one.
"It takes the right type of person to do this," she said. "You can't have the wrong type of person who doesn't care if they misspell the name. You kind of have to be as careful as you can."
It's her pleasure, she said. In fact, she has several hanging in the conference room so everyone can enjoy them.
"They'll be in there just giggling," she said. "It's really a simple thing that we do."
Nemcosky said her two grown daughters wrote letters to Santa as children, as did she.
"I think I did back in the day," she said. "Then again, I also wrote tooth fairy letters. It's all good. Santa's good in his own. Basically, it's all about the kids."
