The Daily Alaska Empire

Minfield 'Dear Santa' Letters Go to Juneau

Bartenders' Union

Letters to Santa Claus from the Minfield Home are not reaching that jolly old gentleman by way of the North Pole but are channeled to the Juneau Bartenders' Union which has, for years, made every effort to answer the "Please Santa, I'd like. . ." requests.

Cliff Gardner, big fisherman who tends bar at the Baranof Bubble Room during the winter, goes pretty soft when he reads the Dear Santa letters. He has been the early Christmas morning Santa for the Minfield Home for the past three years.

The forty bartenders in Juneau provide the funds to buy gifts for the 40 youngsters at the Home.

Nearly all letters say, "Dear Santa, we hope we can see you again."

Most of them make their own requests but one 13-year-old girl wrote "I will write for a few girls who cannot write. . ." She lists the girls' names and ages and what they hope for. Dolls rank high along with "bassinetts" doll clothes, shoes, a pair of furry mittens, a book, pencils and toothbrush.

Older children want suitcases and gloves. Many hoped for flashlights. A number requested cameras.

Several asked for a "Bible of my own." Four petitioned for footballs and one asked, for "a bow-tie for Johnny."

A cautious lad gave Santa a range of choice when he wrote. "I'd like a chemistry set or a camera, a hobbycraft set or a camera, a pocket watch or a camera, a suitcase or a camera."