logo
Log In Subscribe e-Edition Archives
logo
Log In Subscribe e-Edition Archives
Google Play App Store
  • News
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Photo Gallery
  • Columns/Opinions
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds
  • Public Notices
  • Special Sections
    • News
    • Sports
    • Lifestyle
    • Photo Gallery
    • Columns/Opinions
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
    • Public Notices
    • Special Sections
The Country Editor: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!
Columns/Opinions
December 20, 2023
The Country Editor: Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following editorial by the late Publisher/Editor Sammy J. Franklin has appeared in this newspaper in every Christmas issue for decades. Its original publication date is unknown but the message is timeless.)

One of my favorite articles at Christmas time is one written by the editor of The Sun newspaper way back in the year 1897 – more than one hundred years ago.

The Christmas classic was the letter from an 8-year-old girl inquiring if there really is a Santa Claus and the answer the wise editor penned those many years ago.

Following is a repeat of that favorite

Dear Editor, “I am 8 years old. “Some of my little friends say there is no SANTA CLAUS. “Papa says, ‘If you see it in the Sun it’s so.’ “Please tell me the truth, is there a SANTA CLAUS?” Virginia O’Hanlon 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable grasping the whole truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no roof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world, which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10 thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
It might also interest you...
The Whimsical World of Dr. Seuss!
A: Main, News
The Whimsical World of Dr. Seuss!
June 18, 2025
Approximately 25 parish youth performed The Strand Village Project #thrive production, “Seussical Jr.” last Friday at the Jena High School auditorium....
this is a test
No Water In Jena Tonight
A: Main, News
No Water In Jena Tonight
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 18, 2025
The entire Town of Jena Water System will be turned off tonight, Wednesday, June 18, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., to allow contractor crews to complete ...
this is a test
Olla Lacks Funds For Sewer Project
A: Main, News
Olla Lacks Funds For Sewer Project
By Reagan Franklin Assistant Editor 
June 18, 2025
The Olla Town Council learned last week that they are still short of funds to begin work on the much-needed Wastewater Treatment Plant Project. Accord...
this is a test
Temporary Bridge Opens In Tullos
A: Main, News
Temporary Bridge Opens In Tullos
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 18, 2025
Motorists who travel regularly on US 84 through Tullos were delighted to see the new temporary bridge opened last month as the area continues to wait ...
this is a test
Work On New Olla Pool Progressing
A: Main, News
Work On New Olla Pool Progressing
Staff Report 
June 18, 2025
If everything would have gone according to plans, construction on a new swimming pool in Olla would have begun this summer. Unfortunately, it will lik...
this is a test
Road Problems Discussed Again at Jury Meeting
News
Road Problems Discussed Again at Jury Meeting
By Craig Franklin Editor 
June 18, 2025
For the second meeting in a row, the condition of parish roads was one of the main topics discussed at the LaSalle Parish Police Jury’s monthly meetin...
this is a test
ACE Circular
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
ACE Circular
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Search Public Notices

The Jena Times
OLLA-TULLOS-URANIA SIGNAL
P: (318) 992-4121

Office Hours:
Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm
Sat-Sun, Closed

This site complies with ADA requirements

© The Jena Times

  • Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Privacy Accessibility Policy