Yesterday I wrote about several U.S. cities that sport Christmas-themed names, including Noel, Missouri; Santa Claus, Indiana; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Christmas, Florida. Thanks to an astute reader I’m back again with one more-—North Pole, Alaska.
North Pole, Alaska—-not to be confused with the planet’s geographic North Pole—-is located roughly 12 miles from Fairbanks amid the Arctic Ocean. Alaska’s North Pole has a population of 2,200 and got its name back in 1953.
Each year despite the bitter cold tens of thousands of residents and visitors turn out for the city’s annual ice festival and sculpting contest. This year’s big North Pole Christmas in Ice Festival kicked off two days ago and runs through December.
Last year’s event featured a fierce contest between ice artists from Alaska and China carving a Christmas-themed sculpture from a block of ice. For 2008, event organizers commissioned a gigantic frozen turkey sculpture measuring 8 feet tall and 18,500 pounds, which will be illuminated throughout the festival. The event also features an ice park with ice slides for kids and a two-day ice-carving competition, which takes place next weekend along with a tree-lighting ceremony and fireworks display. City officials say the park will remain open through the end of December.
If you plan to make the trip, don’t forget to stop off at North Pole’s Santa Claus House, which boasts a gift shop, Santa Claus and real reindeer. The city’s post office is also a popular place. Postal officials say in 2007, the North Pole Post Office processed more than 50,000 Christmas cards and packages—-that’s more than double the volume of mail it sees on a typical month.
North Pole postal workers say each year they receive thousands of letters to Santa from kids the world over. Volunteers answer each and every letter that finds its way to the tiny post office and sends replies to children in envelopes featuring special holiday stamps.
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