Santa Ryan was four years old; his brother Trevor was 3 and twins Caitlin and Carter were one year old infants when their dad Jay was transferred from Michigan to NWS Earle in Colts Neck where he was OIC at the Naval base medical center.
With the help of their mom, Tracy, the kids all wrote letters and drew photos for Santa Claus, then excitedly placed them in the special mail box at the MWR Building at Earle. Surely, Santa Claus would answer their letters, they thought excitedly.
And just as excitedly, Santa answered each letter, as he did for the hundreds of other youngsters at Earle.
And the next year it was the same. Mom helped with more letters and drawings, mailed them in Santa’ s Mail Box on base , and Santa answered. The same thing happened their third year at Earle. Their dad was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, the kids grew and Tracy remained the loving and hard-working mom she always was.
But that was the year Lieutenant Commander Jay Woelkers received word he was being transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas . Will Santa know they were moving, the kids asked their mom? Would he still write us letters and see our letters to him?
Of course he will, Tracy assured her kids, then 7, 6 and four. Santa will never stop writing.
And he never did. Just to be certain of that, Tracy continued to send her children’s letters to Santa each year, only now by e-mail from wherever the family was stationed with the Navy. And just as regularly, The Woelkers always received letters back from Santa by e-mail, with Tracy printing them out and continuing the Christmas Eve letter reading tradition.
Until this year, 22 years later, This was the year Tracy Woelkers decided to let her grown children know where those 22 years of letters had been coming from.
It wasn’t an easy decision. After all, writing the letters, getting the answers, were only the first parts of what had grown into a Woelkers family tradition. The proud mama had saved every one of the Santa letters, had even cajoled the folks at MWR each year to give her back the letters her children wrote during their years there. And every year, since 2002, in the Woelkers’ home, reading all the letters, seeing all the art work and enjoying all the excitement of Christmas became a Woelkers Family Christmas Eve event.
So Tracy, to assure herself she was not breaking, simply modifying a two-decade old family tradition, turned to the letter writer once again for help. Should we tell them, she asked? And how should we do it?
The letter writer agreed. After all, she had heard all the stories of Christmas Eve excitement, as well as the stories during the kids’ teen age years when they may have grumbled a bit about hearing ALL the letters before turning to other family traditions. She knew their dad had been promoted from Lieutenant Commander to Commander to Captain and was now retired from the Walter Reed Medical Center. She knew two of the kids had also served in the military and Tracy herself had come through some very difficult surgery and recuperation. Certainly, kids who were awed at 4,3 and 1 year old could handle the news of who actually wrote all the Santa letters to them. now that they are now 26, 25 and 24.
So in addition to this year’s letters, the Earle Santa wrote a poem and gave the young adults a final option on whether to get the news. She wrote
So now perhaps is the time to let you in on the know.
If you don’t want to hear the whole story, then don’t read below.
The poem continued for those who continued to read. The author wrote
But you are all adults now, and deserve to know the whole truth for good cause.
Here it is. In actuality, Woelkers family, there is no Santa Claus.
It’s just love in your heart, warmth in the love that you share
There’s happiness in tradition, and memories quite rare.
The news was out! Tracey practiced reading the letter herself, so moved was she by the joint decision to modify a family tradition.
The kids took it in stride Christmas Eve, 2025. They laughed, they joked, they asked, “what are we going to do next year?” and they easily put away some happy memories of more than 22 years.
But that wasn’t enough for Tracy. She had to visit that letter and poem writer and tell her once again, and in person, how much she appreciated the past 22 years of letters.
That is how Tracy Woelkers and I got together this week and spent hours looking over letters, drawings, sharing stories, and catching up on two decades of happy and sad events in both our lives since those early days at Earle.
Tracy drove up from their family’s home in Maryland this week to share the end of a tradition with the journalist of VeniVidiScripto and to let me know once again how important this tradition had been to the Woelkers family.
We shared the entire afternoon and early evening reliving all the joys, the family, the good times at Earle in the early 2000s. We remembered and appreciated LeAnn and Steve Steurer, he who had been the XO at the base during that time; we loved swapping stories about the Hansen Marines and that family’s mom Teresa who had her own way of handling the same tradition. Her children also wrote letters throughout all the last two decades; they wrote the letters themselves, adding their spouses, children and special friends as the family grew each year. And Santa answered every one of the letters every year. Now Teresa, who lives on Long Island, Tracy and I are planning for a reunion within a couple of months. When Steve Steuer heard about the rendezvous, he wanted to add his own voice to the wonderful stories of NWS Earle and the families who lived there in 2003. His Leann died a couple of years ago, but the love and happiness she shared at Earle are remembered just as fondly today.
As for the traditions: Of course they will continue, both with the Hansens and the Woelkers. Because that poem that identified the letter writer also directed
So now here’s the choice. Let me know if you want to keep up the tradition
I’m happy to do so, though I’ll add one condition
Remember the love and devotion both of your parents have for each of you
And think of traditions you can carry on to keep them happy, too.
May this Christmas be the best you have ever had to this date
And may next year’s be even happier, and just a little more great
Know you’ve brought me so much joy in keeping up with your goings on each year
Merry Christmas to each of you, with lots of love and good cheer.
As for the letter writing Santa? There is no describing the amount of joy I have gotten from being able to make so many people who do so much for our country so happy. There is nothing that can characterize how special it is that I am a part of a NWS Earle Naval family that 22 years ago included so many very special, wonderful and young couples and families dedicated to serving a nation. To have been part of that family’s tradition … I could never forget and will always hold dear.
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