Bob and Terri Munson, Bill Weeks, Sue Johnson, Marty Gearhart, Penny Willoughby, Mrs. and Mr. Claus
Despite wet instead of white precipitation, nothing dampened the holiday spirit of the 200 plus folks who piled into the Grantham Town Hall to enjoy some pancakes and meet the Big Guy himself along with his delightful wife. Mr. and Mrs. Claus came by fire engine with sirens blasting to herald their arrival.
A few weeks ago, Emily Rinde-Thorsen who is the Grantham Recreation Department, reached out to the garden club asking for volunteers to dole out breakfast which turned out to be an easy sell. So were the pancakes and sausage which were paid for with unwrapped toys and food items to be donated to a local charity. As the party was drawing to a close, the GGC volunteers watched the clock to see if the time or the pancakes would run out first. Luckily, the pancakes (just barely) lasted for the entire event.
The wide-eyed children were a joy to see dressed in their red and green finery. Santa was so gentle and kind that not one child shed a tear. Santa even got off his chair and onto the floor beside one toddler who was too shy to sit on his lap. Mrs. Claus explained that her husband has been hiking a lot lately and is slimmer and trimmer than we expected. We’re pleased that Santa is taking good care of himself.
Emily also recruited a bunch of fabulous Lebanon High School teens to help with crowd control, hand out gifts, replenish hot chocolate, and take care of all the clean up. Appropriately, they wore elf hats.
The main take-away from the garden club volunteers was that Grantham is a wonderful town for families and children. Everyone wants to join in again next December.
A few weeks ago, Emily Rinde-Thorsen who is the Grantham Recreation Department, reached out to the garden club asking for volunteers to dole out breakfast which turned out to be an easy sell. So were the pancakes and sausage which were paid for with unwrapped toys and food items to be donated to a local charity. As the party was drawing to a close, the GGC volunteers watched the clock to see if the time or the pancakes would run out first. Luckily, the pancakes (just barely) lasted for the entire event.
The wide-eyed children were a joy to see dressed in their red and green finery. Santa was so gentle and kind that not one child shed a tear. Santa even got off his chair and onto the floor beside one toddler who was too shy to sit on his lap. Mrs. Claus explained that her husband has been hiking a lot lately and is slimmer and trimmer than we expected. We’re pleased that Santa is taking good care of himself.
Emily also recruited a bunch of fabulous Lebanon High School teens to help with crowd control, hand out gifts, replenish hot chocolate, and take care of all the clean up. Appropriately, they wore elf hats.
The main take-away from the garden club volunteers was that Grantham is a wonderful town for families and children. Everyone wants to join in again next December.
Mrs. Claus, Bill Weeks, Marty Gearhart, Bob Munson, Sue Johnson serving breakfast
Lebanon High School volunteers Payson Fowler-Thorsen, Payton Breedlove, Oliver Hermanson, Olivia Britton, Nicole Suckow Seated: Addison Durell, Charlotte Edmund
Captain Vince Cunningham of the Grantham Police Department, Santa Claus, and Grantham Recreation Director Emily Rinde-Thorsen
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