REWIND: The Final Destination For "Dear Santa" Letters (And The Real-Life "Elf" Who Answers Them!)
SmartHERNews
Jenna Lee
4.9 • 663 Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2024
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An interview from our holiday vault! Be charmed by now 93-year-old Mrs. Koch - the "Chief Elf" of one Santa Claus, Indiana.
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Have you heard of Santa Claus, Indiana?
Founded in 1856, this town serves as one of the main destinations for "Dear Santa" letters from all over the world.
And this happened, in many ways, because one family took the reins (no reindeer jokes ... yet).
Meet 92-year-old Mrs. Koch (pronounced "Cook"). She holds many titles – including Santa's daughter, Chief Elf, and founder of the Santa Claus Museum – preserving the stories of the past that she now shares with us, including:
- How Santa Claus, IN got its name
- How a WW1 veteran became Santa's best helper
- How the team receives and responds to tens of thousands of letters mailed from around the world.
A perfect news break for anyone who needs a little Christmas spirit – or has some to spare! We hope this interview leaves you with one thought this season ... "Believe!"
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Transcript
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| 1:02.4 | Hello from the Heartland. My name is Jenna and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters. |
| 1:10.3 | Our Smarter series features unique people who help |
| 1:13.4 | us think and live smarter. Well, today we have a conversation that will bring us a little |
| 1:21.7 | Christmas spirit. If you need a little extra Christmas spirit this year, this will be the |
| 1:25.7 | conversation for you. If you're already in the Christmas spirit, this will also be a conversation for you. And because this is a story |
| 1:32.7 | that we discovered at Smarter News sort of by accident, I thought what might be the best way to |
| 1:38.0 | approach this conversation is just to go through it together. So no big introductions, no big wind-up. We just want to get to our |
| 1:46.2 | guest and hear a little bit about her story. So joining us today is Mrs. Patricia Cook. |
| 1:53.5 | Mrs. Cook, what year were you born and where do you live? I was born in 1931, which makes me 92 years old, very happy to be alive and well. |
| 2:07.3 | And I live in Santa Claus, Indiana. |
| 2:09.7 | Very proud of that, the great, great, wonderful story of Santa Claus, and how the town got its name and what joy we can bring to children. |
| 2:19.9 | How did the town of Santa Claus, Indiana, get its name? |
... |
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