As we look to the feast of Christmas this week, we look back on another successful year for our Christmas Market. This “success” was measured by the smiling faces of the 35+ families and over 125 children of our community who were nominated and given the opportunity to shop for new toys for their children at substantially reduced rates. Our Christmas Market allowed the adults to select and buy these gifts for themselves, offering them the gift of dignity to be able to provide for their children with the assistance of a caring community.
As always, this Christmas Market would NOT have been possible without your very generous support. We thank you for your gracious donations of toys and money. Please know that ALL of your donations played a role in making some very special moments for our families. The parents were able to walk through a winter wonderland provided by Alyssa VanderHyde, filled with joyful songs from The Crossroad Fiddlers, Mary Black and Jonathan Bading and singers as they selected an average of 3 toys per child with assistance of Regan LaMothe and his Knights of Columbus who were present from check-in through check-out and transported those who were in need! Kelly Nachtegal and her wrapping crew did a wonderful job as did Patti Wiktorowski with the tree decoration with further added to the atmosphere. Thanks to Marijo Forrester, Barb Menardie and Thea Walsh, the children were treated to an area of fun, crafts, shopping for their siblings and even pictures with our very own St. Nicholas. Thanks Deacon Bob! All our volunteers, of which there were so many helpful hands, were well fed by the St. Vincent dePaul society.
A special THANK YOU to our corporate sponsors as well. Please show your support and frequent these businesses! Joey’s Tavern, Lake Michigan Mechanical, Mapes Insurance, Meijer, Rylee’s Ace Hardware, MSSFA, Micron Manufacturing, Builder’s Buddy and the Polish Falcons. This event is truly an example of loving our Heavenly Father through kindness and love for our neighbor!
