VILLA PARK : Make a List, Check It Twice, Then Fax It

Stephanie Rose wrote a letter to Santa Claus just as she has in the past, but this year she faxed it instead of mailing it.

“It’s faster,” the 4-year-old girl said on a recent afternoon, after faxing her letter to the North Pole from the Villa Park Pharmacy and Fountain.

Stephanie and about 20 other children from the area sent their letters to Santa from the pharmacy, which claims to be the first and only store in the county to offer the service for free. It guarantees a 48-hour faxed response from Santa himself.

The pharmacy’s owner, Jim Brodsky, said he will turn the event into an annual tradition at his store. For this first year, he hired a Santa to visit the store and explain how the faxes save time and make his job easier.

“It’s great, and the letters go right into my computer,” Santa told the children. “With so many kids in the world now, you have to compute everything.”

Brodsky receives the faxes himself and then sends a personalized response that he places in a colorful folder for the youngster to pick up in a day or two.

Students in kindergarten through third grade from area elementary schools have been offered the service through Dec. 20. Brodsky said he expects about 1,000 children to fax letters. Most of those sent Monday asked Santa for pets, candy, in-line skates and toys.

Tessie Ford, 4, wrote: “Please, can I have a Baby Check Up,” a popular doll.

Her mother, Bridget Ford, said she was grateful for the fax service.

“This is great because I had no idea where to send Tessie’s letters in the past,” she said.

Brodsky, 50, said he is taking the “Santa-Grams” seriously.

“This is something different that nobody else is doing yet,” Brodsky said. “This area is upscale, so faxing is something that all the kids know about and it’s a cute idea that I just jumped all over because it’s so much like Villa Park--homey but high-tech.”