Six years ago, when Kelly and Nikki Bright’s search for a welcoming community in which to raise their family led them to settle in East Mt. Airy, one of the first signs of their new neighborhood’s hospitality came in the form of a mailbox. Reserved for letters to Santa, it appeared on the lawn of a neighbor who lived many blocks away, on the 300 block of West Mt. Airy Avenue.

Turns out, that red mailbox was a Mt. Airy community holiday tradition. It showed up every year at the same time and in the same place, and every year, neighborhood children filled it with their letters to St. Nick and waited for Christmas day. 

So the couple’s son, 3-year-old Isaiah, wrote out a letter of his own and placed it in the box. To the family’s great surprise, he soon received a response. “Isaiah,” Santa wrote, “You’ve been so good that you’ve made the ‘Nice’ list.”

It was a delightful experience for a young family so new to the neighborhood – and became a cherished tradition in the Bright household.

Then one day, for some reason that Kelly Bright cannot explain because she never met the neighbor who put it there, the box was no longer there. 

So she resolved to carry on the tradition herself. And last month, she bought a  $5 mailbox from a dollar store, labeled it “Santa’ in big white letters, and placed it on her lawn.

“I told my kids that Santa had contacted me and asked if we could place a mailbox on our property so that more kids could have access to him,” said Kelly, whose daughter Meena is now 3.“They think that the box magically appeared.”

Alongside the red mailbox, Kelly placed a plastic container box with pencils for youngsters who want to add a few last minute items to their list, and little toys to whet their appetite for the big day. Then she posted its whereabouts on a Mt. Airy Neighbors Facebook page and told parents that if their youngsters would like a letter back, make sure to include an address. 

So far, only a few letters have landed in the box. 

One is from 6-year-old Caden, who has already written a letter to Santa and placed it in the mailbox. Caden’s letter includes graphics and no specific gift request. One side is a drawing that depicts Caden and Santa, on the other is a butterfly. Caden is into bugs at the moment, said his mom, neighbor Marilisa Navarro.

But, with Christmas coming so close after Thanksgiving, time is short. And while the U.S. Postal Service has told families that letters to Santa had to be postmarked by Monday, Dec. 9, the Bright Santa mailbox has a later deadline.

Building upon family tradition

The plunge into Christmas cheer is typical for Kelly Bright who “doesn’t play” when it comes to Christmas, says Bright’s wife Nikki. They have three Christmas trees inside, wreaths on the windows and candy cane decorations on the lawn. 

“Everything is an extravaganza,” Nikki said. 

This new Bright family Christmas magic has roots in Kelly and Nikki’s childhoods. 

Nikki said she grew up a “military kid” who spent holiday parties at the old National Guard Armory in West Oak Lane, and Kelly’s list of family traditions included attending the Macy’s department store light show in Center City – where she remembers placing her own letters to Santa in a mailbox on Macy’s first floor. “But you didn’t receive anything back,” she said. 

Now, Nikki said, the bright red mailbox outside their front door is a way of giving back – since their early experience with the neighborhood mailbox helped them so much when they were just “getting our sea legs,”

“Now, we have the opportunity to be that for someone else,” she said.

 “Christmas is such a magical time and I just love adding to it for my kids and our neighborhood kids,” added Kelly, a full-time mom who also operates Dirty Gertie’s, a nonalcoholic popup bar. “It’s nice to focus on something so joyous, especially with the climate of the world today.”

For neighbor Marilisa Navarro, the Bright mailbox is another example of the neighborhood comradery that is a hallmark of Mt. Airy.

“I feel like on our block in particular, it’s not just a neighborhood, it’s a community,” Navarro said. “We have neighbors we talk to all the time. Our kids play together. We have family game nights. We feel like we trust them, and they trust us. We feel connected to each other.”

A few days after placing the letter in the mailbox, Caden received a response from Santa.

“I’ve been watching how kind you’ve been. And I’m very proud of you,” the letter said. “Keep being awesome. I can’t wait to visit you.”

Caden’s face lit up with joy, Navarro said of her son, and then he ran to the dining room table to write another letter to Santa.