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Santa letters' amazing journey
Tuesday, December 5, 2006 10:20 PM EST
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| John Parker shows Santa letters that were found recently on his farm near Brooksville. The letters arrived by balloon and were from children in Texas. Terry Prather/Staff |
"Last Monday, Nov. 27, Mike Rumford was loading hay and saw some balloons come drifting down. When he got done with the hay he went to retrieve the balloons and found two letters. They were in Spanish," said John Parker of Brooksville, owner of the farm where the balloons were found. "He discarded the balloons, but brought the letters home, then to me."
Unsure if the messages had been sent by local children, Parker utilized the Internet to track down the phone number that appeared in the letters.
"In the reverse directory, the number came back to a residence in Dallas, Texas," said Parker.
The distance from Dallas to Parker's farm in the Hackett Ridge area of Bracken County is approximately 820 miles.
Parker's curiosity was piqued, so last Sunday he dialed the phone number and a woman answered the call, speaking in Spanish. Parker managed enough Spanglish to tell the woman the balloons had been found in Kentucky and that the letters would be forwarded on to the intended recipient, Santa Claus, or Santa Clous as it was written on the envelope.
"She spoke some English and said from the day the balloons had been sent, on Saturday or Sunday, Nov. 25 or 26, it only took about a day to get here," said Parker.
According to a friend Parker has in Dallas, WFAA-TV meteorologist Pete Delkus, there had been a storm front in the Dallas area and the upper level winds on those dates could have been 100-150 miles per hour.
"So it was possible for the balloons to travel that far in a day," said Parker.
Delkus was also intrigued by the high flying trip.
"Isn't it the most amazing thing," said Delkus.
Now Parker, and Santa, will have an idea of what the children, Johanna and Carlos Edward Cardona, want for Christmas; as soon as Parker translates the rest of the list in the letters, before forwarding the errant mail to the North Pole.
"I think I will take a copy to the Augusta School Spanish teacher to translate. They are definitely small children, by the handwriting; I could make out dinosaurs, Transformers and pirates for Carlos and Barbie and Winnie the Pooh for Johanna," said Parker who plans to give Santa a helping hand this season.
For more area news, go to www.bracken-online.com
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 276.
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