If you ever want to see a newsroom cringe in fear, quake in their shoes or come close to breaking down in tears, just put in front of them a mound of letters to Santa written by local school children.

Such an event is taking place this very week in our newsroom and … I love it.

For as long as I have worked in this business, the newspapers I have worked for have published letters to Santa written by the school children in that area.

It routinely is one of the most well-read and enjoyed sections of the newspaper we publish each year and is an enjoyable insight into the wishes of this generation’s children.

But, that section, that magical display of joy, wants and wishes, just doesn’t happen.

For the next few days, members of our newsroom, and other departments, will sit in front of their computer screens and type in each and every letter, working hard to type them in just as written. Turning off any autocorrect is an important step in this project.

The department becomes a Santa workshop of sorts, with news reporters, sports reporters, photographers, creative graphic artists, editors and even the publisher, working through a stack of letters that have been submitted.

The letters range from the normal requests of all the latest and greatest gadgets, to the traditional, asking for baby dolls, scooters and bikes.

There are those letters who might start of with, “Santa, are you real,” to those who even promise a late night snack of cookies and milk. Some even include a promise to leave celery and carrots for the reindeer. There are even some who will touch the soul, asking for families to be reunited or loved ones serving in the Armed Forces to come home. Those will crack even the strongest and most cynical of reporters.

This is a project we are so proud to produce and one that is only possible thanks to the strong partnership we have with our local elementary teachers and schools. The section, which will include hundreds and hundreds of letters, will publish in the Wednesday, Dec. 23 edition of The Vicksburg Post. And, much like with the “How to cook a turkey” section we published on Thanksgiving Day, these letters will appear online at vicksburgpost.com.

We hope you enjoy the section. It might be a job to put it all together, but it is a job we are proud to do each and every year.

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Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com.