RUMFORD – Santa is all set to open up and read what Scot Grassette hopes is the world’s largest letter Tuesday morning at North Pole, Alaska.

Lots of local and national media are expected to be on hand when the event takes place, said Paul Brown, operations manager of the Santa Claus House, which is where thousands of letters to Santa are delivered each year.

“We’ve never had anything near that big,” said Brown of the 24- by 131-foot letter mailed on Dec. 1 from the Rumford Post Office. “It’s caused quite a buzz.”

The largest letter ever delivered until now to North Pole was poster-sized at 24- by 36-inches, signed by a class of youngsters, he said.

The giant letter is the brainchild of Scot Grassette, a magician and NewPage Corp. paper worker from Rumford. He began planning the letter in October as a fundraiser for the Mountain Valley High School majorette team. His daughter is the team’s captain.

Grassette said he received a phone call from North Pole when the letter arrived on Dec. 12, and Brown said it has been stored in a warehouse since its arrival.

Grassette organized a fundraiser at the end of November that included a magic show, food sales and other events. Nearly 500 people made requests, which were listed on the letter by majorettes dressed as elves.

The event raised about $3,000 for the team

The 62-pound letter required 288 first class nutcracker Christmas stamps to get to Alaska.

Grassette is also trying to get a new category listed in the Guinness List of World Records – that of largest, single-page letter.

The paper was donated by NewPage Corp.

He sent all the necessary documentation to the London organization at about the time the huge letter was mailed to Santa. He said Monday afternoon that he won’t know if the letter will be listed by Guinness until early next year.

All along the way, local media, several newspapers in Massachusetts, The Associated Press, and the television show “Good Morning America” have covered the letter’s development.

Brown said a Los Angeles video team attends events at the North Pole every year. Grassette’s letter to Santa will likely make the news throughout the country. He said it may appear on Wednesday morning’s “Good Morning America” or on the “Today” show.

He said the Santa Claus House supports Grassette’s hope of getting into the Guinness Book of World Records and has submitted certification of the letter. North Pole, Alaska, has an appropriate honor for itself – the world’s largest statue of Santa listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

It is 42 feet tall, not including its 8-foot pedestal, and weighs 900 pounds. The statue made its initial appearance at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962.

North Pole, Alaska, is the official site for receiving letters to Santa. Brown said mail was up this year, with many requests to bring mommy or daddy home from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Each letter is read by Santa or his elves then posted in the Santa Claus House.

Grassette is thrilled with the nationwide response he and the majorettes have received because of the letter.

“It has created a memory,” he said of the day when children added their names to the letter.

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