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...
LEAP and State Testing Results Reveal LaSalle Maintaining Strong Levels
A: Main, News
LEAP and State Testing Results Reveal LaSalle Maintaining Strong Levels
By Craig Franklin Editor 
July 16, 2025
“I’m proud of the fact that you can drive 100 miles in any direction from here and not find a school system that outperformed us,” LaSalle Parish Scho...
this is a test
2025 Legislative Session Recap
A: Main, News
2025 Legislative Session Recap
Part 3 of 3
By Craig Franklin Editor 
July 16, 2025
Part 3 of 3: District 20 Rep. Neil Riser (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of a three-part series featuring LaSalle Parish’s State Legislative Delegat...
this is a test
Plans for the Jena Skatepark are Rolling!
A: Main, News
Plans for the Jena Skatepark are Rolling!
By Reagan Franklin Assistant Editor 
July 16, 2025
Four locals have joined together under one mission: bring a skatepark to Jena. Hailey Lovasz, Daniel Aymond, Jeremy Smith and David Nealy form a small...
this is a test
Olla Accepts Low Bid For Sewer Project
A: Main, News
By Reagan Franklin Assistant Editor Olla Accepts Low Bid For Sewer Project
Olla Accepts Low Bid For Sewer Project
July 16, 2025
Womack & Sons Construction Group was awarded the contract for Olla’s new wastewater treatment plant as the Olla Town Council unanimously voted to acce...
this is a test
Urania Seeks Grant for Ground Storage Tank
News
Urania Seeks Grant for Ground Storage Tank
By Reagan Franklin Assistant Editor 
July 16, 2025
Urania is seeking funding for the refurbishment of one of its ground storage tanks through a grant with LITACorp (Louisiana Infrastructure Technical A...
this is a test
LaSalle Arrests
News
LaSalle Arrests
wlf.la.gov
July 16, 2025
The following individuals were arrested and booked into the LaSalle Parish Jail during the previous week: Daniel Howard Morton, 40, of Natchitoches, w...
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