The North Pole Annex is officially up and running.

The office staff has started to process the letters, and the picking and packing starts on Wednesday.

I find it refreshing to see familiar faces among the volunteers. I’m also very pleased to see new ones who have decided to join our team. We will miss our friends who won’t be here this year, but I hope they are following us online.

I would also like to welcome back our readers who follow us each season. It is always a treat for me to keep you informed of what is going on behind the scenes at the annex.

It was a hectic two days as we unpacked and sorted the toys, but somehow we managed to put it all together.

The annex is shimmering with bright colored toys. The dolls are many, some are soft and cuddly, and others are dressed in the latest fashions.

Each doll would please any young lady. The games are varied so as to challenge each family member.

When parents join in, and we hope they do, it can bring families closer together. That’s a piece of the puzzle I have not mentioned before. Christmas day can be magical, and sharing moments together by being up close and playing together will create fond memories later in life.

We have plastic model kits to build, trucks and tractors to create a city made from sand, and Hot Wheels and Transformers to race across the floor. Plush toys, soccer balls, craft kits and science kits add to our arsenal.

We think we are ready!

So now we wait. We wait to hear from the families who need an assist.

Please get your letters in as soon as you can. The last day will be Dec. 17 to process any requests. Remember that you must be the parent or legal guardian.

Send your letters to the Santa Claus Fund Inc., P.O. Box 278, Brunswick, Maine 04011. Put your name, address and phone number at the top of the page. Then list the names, the gender and the date of birth of your children.

Then wait a couple days and call the Santa Fund phone number: 319-4785. You will be given a box number, a time and a location when and where to pick up your box of gifts if you have been approved. A picture ID is necessary at that time. There are no exceptions to this rule. We can help, but you have to take the first step.

By late Tuesday morning, we processed requets for 58 children: 32 boys and 26 girls. The office was fully operational Tuesday morning. Linnie and Linda worked feverishly to make it happen. Thanks, ladies.

We have some donations to mention today. Some we received last January after we stopped publishing the donations. So here is our list: Anonymous $20, another anonymous gift of $100, Peter and Barbara Pelletier and daughter Kim Bashant sent us $100.

This November, we have received $100 from Johnson Fenwick, Marshall and Marcia Bowdoin donated $100, the Brunswick Emblem Club donated $25, The Pine Tree Branch 156, Fleet Reserve Association donated $100, $50 from Elaine, Betty, Barbara, and Sonny in memory of Eunice Wilson and Beverly Bibber, and $680 from the Great State of Maine Air Show.

Material donations from Pamela Hagerthy-Edwards sent $400 worth of children’s jewelry in memory of Barbara Hagerthy. Marcia Beaudoin donated 40 knit hats and four pair of knitted mittens. Margo Holland of Bainbridge Island, Wash. sent 24 knit hats, and Jean Pullen our very special honorary volunteer donated 116 assorted toys, a bike, games, dolls and more on behalf of the firstand second-shift workers at Bath Iron Works: Their combined total value was $1,103. Thank you to all.

Follow us online as well as in print.

Also, later this week, we tell you about some exciting news we received on Tuesday.

TO MAKE REQUESTS

Send your letters by Dec. 17 to the Santa Claus Fund Inc., P.O.

Box 278, Brunswick, ME

04011. Put your name, address and phone number at the top of the page. Then list the names, the gender and the dates of birth of your children.