EASTON, Md., December 21, 2011 — Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. Really and truly. His name is George Jackson and he lives in American Corner, Md. Yep, American Corner. How perfect is that?
And, Virginia, believe it or not, he is a dead ringer for “the jolly old elf.” “His eyes, how they twinkled.” His cheeks are like “roses” and “his nose like a cherry.” And his belly does shake “like a bowlful of jelly” when he laughs, and “I laughed in spite of myself.”
George has lots to smile about. Not only does he play Santa to veteran groups, but every year, starting in the summer, he collects Christmas wishes and artwork for his 500-foot scrolls to send to the troops overseas.
Debbie Alvey mails out the scrolls
This past November 30, he mailed out six Christmas scrolls by priority mail from the tiny Preston, Md. Post office to U.S. Navy Sailors in Afghanistan, to the U.S. Marines at Camp Dwyer in Afghanistan and to the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan. Two other scrolls went to the Coast Guard, stationed around the world.
The thank you emails and letters are now pouring in, some with pictures of his scrolls pasted to barrack walls or on the sides of a hanger. But for George Jackson, his goal is simple: "Bring one smile to one soldier somewhere in the world."
I sat down with George Jackson at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Maryland this past Veterans Day as he was gathering the last of his holiday greetings for the armed forces abroad. Actually, I didn’t do much sitting as I ran up and down the 100-plus feet of scroll, reading what the students and professors were writing. There were Christmas wishes and Hanukkah messages, Christmas trees and snowmen, blessings and thank yous, little letters and poems, all in bright green and red marker.
A close-up of a scroll
While George and I were talking, a young man came over to the table, a student at the college who had served in Fallujah, Iraq, Marine Sergeant Robbie Karge. He had come to thank George personally for the scroll he and his buddies had received one Christmas.
“Getting that scroll was a morale booster,” Robbie explained, signing his own message to the troops still on the front lines. “I know the time it takes for George to do this for us and I want him to know we appreciate it.”
It does take time, lots of time, as George moves around Maryland and Delaware from VFW halls to grocery stores to churches to colleges, collecting thousands of signatures, which is why he starts in August every year.
"Santa" for Operation We Care
Scrolls Transcend Politics
The idea of the holiday scrolls came to George in 1995 when he was playing Santa at a National Guard Christmas Party and our troops were in stationed in Bosnia. He has been doing the scrolls ever since. And George has found that 99.9% of the people support the scrolls, even when they may not like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and want us out. His scrolls truly transcend politics.
The other morning he was dressed as Santa, out collecting new messages for a wounded Delmarva Marine at Bethesda Hospital. Later he would be helping Operation We Care gather treats to be sent to U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
George’s devotion to the armed forces is long and deep, going back to the Vietnam War when he signed up for the Marine Corps, only to find he had unusual vision problems. He was honorably discharged from the Corps in 1967. After that he devoted himself to the Maryland National Guard for the next 32 years, which led to his “career” as Santa to Maryland’s veterans.
Jessica Brown drew a thumbs up for the troops
As we talked, a Veterans Day observance was taking place behind us in the Caroline Hall, but vets, dressed in fatigues, found time to drop by to sign the scroll, take pictures, and talk with George. As he watched college students sketch a menorah or a spindly Christmas tree, George beamed like only Santa could on Christmas Eve.
His work is done for this year, and thanks to George Jackson, Santa Claus from American Corners, U.S.A., thousands of our servicemen and women will be smiling as they unfurl the huge scrolls and hang them in their mess halls and barracks.
And some will sit down and write an email to George like the one from Air Force Major Scott Papineau:
George, I received your roll (AIR FORCE) today and will get with the right folks here in Kabul to ensure it’s displayed so the troops can read the messages. I'll try to get pictures and send them to you.
THANK YOU for your support to the many Airmen, Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors supporting Operation Enduring Freedom here in Afghanistan.
Thanks, Major Scott Papineau
Please visit the front page of Communities @WashingtonTimes.com for many more wonderful Christmas videos, stories, favorite songs and movies, memories and tellings of the tale of Christmas
To contact Catherine Poe, see above. Her work appears in Ad Lib in the Communities at the Washington Times. She can also be heard on the Democrats for America's Future.
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