The Billings Parks and Recreation Department is contracting with Arctic Bell to get a direct telephone line to Santa Claus at the North Pole.

Parents who want their child or children to receive a personal phone call from Santa between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 16 must send a letter to Santa with their child’s/children’s information. Keep it a surprise in case Santa gets backlogged and has to call the following night.

Letters must be received at the parks and recreation office by the end of the day on Dec. 14. Letters sent via fax or e-mail will not be accepted.

Send letters to Billings Parks and Recreation Department, Attn: Santa; 390 N. 23rd St.; Billings, MT, 59101.

Parents need to include in their letters: Phone number; name or names of children; gender and age of children; child’s grade school teacher; parents’ names; brothers’ and sisters’ names and ages; kind of pet and pet name; friends’ names; achievements (report cards, awards, etc.); activities and groups in which the child is involved, such as 4-H or Girl Scouts; miscellaneous information that only Santa would know; the child’s wish list for gifts from Santa.

No phone calls will be made to children older than 10. No long-distance calls will be made — only calls in the Billings area. Only individual requests, not ones for classrooms or groups, will be fulfilled.