Carlsbad mom helping Santa with mail

Two years ago, Elizabeth Gala Bruckner discovered an online business that would mail a personalized “letter from Santa” to her then-5-year-old son A.J. But when she saw the price, $20, she wondered if Scrooge was running the website.

So instead, she cobbled together her own mailbox from plywood and red paint and set it out on her front curb. She invited A.J. and his classmates at Aviara Oaks Elementary to come and drop off their Santa mail, which she answered with festive stationery, envelopes, stickers and stamps for free.

That first year, she received 10 letters. Last year, when she expanded the invitation to the community at large, there were 176. This year? The sky’s the limit.

On Saturday, Dec. 17, she and her family will host a free community Christmas party with Santa and she has bought supplies to hand out as many as 600 cones of cotton candy. Between stationery, stamps, prizes, party supplies and the electric bill to light up their Griswold-like yard extravaganza, the Bruckners spent nearly $1,000 last year. This year, she expects, even hopes, to spend more because she’s a true believer in old St. Nick.

“When you say ‘I believe in Santa,’ you’re not really saying you believe there’s a jolly fat man in a red suit who lives on an island of ice at the North Pole. You’re saying I believe in the spirit of giving without the expectation of receiving. That is the true spirit of Christmas.”

Bruckner, 37, grew up in a Huntington Beach apartment where money was tight, so they didn’t have many lights or decorations and sometimes couldn’t afford a Christmas tree.

“Instead, my mom would always drive us around the community to look at the Christmas light before bed, and as a child it meant so much to me,” Bruckner said. “I still remember how magical it felt to look at all the displays and now it’s my turn to gift what I can to the community.”

Eight years ago, Bruckner, her husband, Andre, and their sons, Wolfgang and A.J., moved to a large home on a cul-de-sac in Carlsbad, where she could let her decorating imagination run wild.

Detail view of one of the letters to Santa Claus with very specific requests. Elizabeth Bruckner answered nearly 200 such letters last year.

(Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press )

Over the years, they have gradually amassed a huge collection of blinking, flashing and inflatable holiday yard ornaments that include Santa and his reindeer on the roof, a glittering castle, Willie Wonka-sized lollipops, a miniature snowy village and several characters from the “Angry Birds” video game.

“It’s a lot. But when I see the looks on people’s faces when they drive up, it’s all worth it because it brings me back to my childhood,” she said.

Bruckner, who works part-time in a real estate office, said she bought many of her Christmas (not to mention Halloween) decorations second-hand or at discount stores, or built them herself. And to pay the annual December electric bill (about $900) she drives for Uber on the weekends.

While her sons — Wolfie’s a fifth-grader and A.J.’s now in second grade — love the holiday decor, it took her German-born husband by surprise.

“He didn’t grow up in a family that celebrated Christmas, so it took some time for him to get used to it,” she said of Andre, who stood nearby as she spoke, dressed in a red-and-green elf sweater with twinkling lights around his neck. “He’s coming around to it now.”

From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at 6646 Elegant Tern Place in Carlsbad, all four Bruckners will be in party mode as they welcome visitors to admire their light display, drop off Santa letters and visit with Santa Claus (local veteran Tony Valenzuela, who’s bilingual, will arrive at 7:30 pm). There will be free candy canes, prizes, a bubble machine, craft tables and fresh-spun wands of cotton candy. Last year’s party drew hundreds of cars because the Bruckners’ home is listed on the holiday website lightsofthevalley.com and in San Diego Family Magazine’s map of lights.

Elizabeth Bruckner reads one of the many letters left in her “Letters to Santa” mailbox that’s in front of her Carlsbad home.

(Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press )

On the evening of the party last year, more than 100 letters were dropped into the “Santa Mail” box, so she’s expecting an even bigger haul this weekend (letter-writers must include their home address for a response). Bruckner has custom-crafted four different letters on holiday stationery so that families with several children won’t run the risk of having the same letter sent to siblings. She also writes unique Santa responses for those letters that come in with special circumstances.

Last year, one letter came from a couple who asked Santa for advice on healing their troubled marriage. Another was sent by a mother who was caring for her homeless sister’s children and feared she’d be forced to surrender them to foster care. Many others are from children whose families are barely scraping by so they don’t expect to receive any gifts or give any in return.

“Those are the ones that break my heart,” Bruckner said. “In those letters from Santa, I tell them that when you help your parents at home or you’re kind to others at school, that’s spreading Christmas cheer. That’s a Christmas gift right there. All those little things you do, that’s what the season is all about.”

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pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com