THE Christmas Party

Shortly after Thanksgiving the topic of Christmas gift giving for the children of Esterillos came up.  It was Ginny who suggested we do one big party instead of the tradition of driving around Esterillos a few days before Christmas and handing out presents that had been bought and collected to whomever children we could find.  A lot of children got missed, there was never enough for everyone.

About the first of December, Rick and Ginny had to make a return trip to Florida for about 10 days. Before they left, she and I along with Deb and Vago had a meeting at the bar.  We made the decision to have a party that would include pizza donated by Steve and cake from the bakery and anyone else I could talk into baking.  We decided we needed pinatas and Ginny said she would get them in Florida.  There was also a discussion about the possibility of "Santa"  I told them I would have flyers made up and given to the children at school before they were let out for their "summer" vacation which goes until mid February.  I told them I would try to collect money to help with the costs.

Desirae designed a flyer - I had about 80 printed up in Jaco - made sure the Principal at the school understood each child could have one.  Posted several around town.  Then I sent out the e-mail asking for donations suggesting $10 to $20.  Shockingly I got a wide variety of responses from hate mail - seriously :( ........to 2 different guys offering a donation of $100 each. Within a very short period of time I had about $400.  I was beyond thrilled.  One of the people who responded told me about another person I had met at Thanksgiving - a magician - he wanted to help.  I contacted him and told him we would be very happy to have him come and do his magic for the kids.

When Rick and Ginny arrived back from Florida - within a few days - the plans shifted into high gear.  We needed a tree so with money in hand I went to Jaco with Rick and Steve.  After looking everywhere we found the only 3 trees left in Jaco.  We chose the best of the 3 - our Esterillos Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  Picked up some lights and decorations on the way home and decorated that afternoon.

Ginny had brought back a Santa suit.  Manfred was more than happy to be be Santa.  Deb and I spent a morning in Parrita buying toys, that afternoon I was in Jaco getting more.  The following day, Debbie from Vail showed up in time to help me, Ginny, Deb and Carolyn put the 100 gift bags together.  More toys were donated and I thought for sure we had it covered.

A few days before the party I was told the donated sheet cakes were not going to happen.  Now I had to make plans and buy cake supplies out of my dwindling budget.  I asked several other people to donate a cake and everyone came thru.  The morning of the party, the cakes were a huge issue - I was worried but in the end......it all worked out.

The party was set to start at 4 pm.  About 3:30 as I was frosting cake.......I said to Steve "What if no one comes..........."  About 20 minutes later someone came in a said "You won't believe how many people are coming down the street"  And sure enough - "If you build it.......They will come - and come they did!  Within half an hour we were swamped.  The turn out was above and beyond anything we had ever expected.  Drinks were being poured, pinatas swinging, the magician doing his magic, pizza coming out of the oven and then........Santa arrived.

As he walked into the open area the children froze!  I am certain, 99% of them had never seen "Santa".  This was a magical moment and made everything worth while.  For the next hour Santa visited everyone, photos were taken, pizza and soda was being consumed.  Christmas music was playing, there was a lot of laugher.

Behind the scenes - Ginny, Deb and I were worried about how in the world would we be able to give all these children presents.  There were so many!

About an hour before the party, Maxine and Guy from Canada Hill brought down 2 unwrapped toys.  One was a huge semi-truck in its' box, the other was a large stuffed donkey.  Since we had put together the 100 gift bags I wasn't sure what to do about these.  Not long after the party began, it became obvious who would receive the big truck - a young boy in leg braces would get the gift.

When Santa took his seat infront of the tree with his 2 lovely assistants - Deb and Ginny on each side, we had a plan.  Ginny was in charge of the boys, Deb had the girls. When the father carried the boy in the braces up to Santa, and the truck came out.......the look on that child's face was priceless!!!!!! About 120 toys later, the last child......a small girl received the large stuffed animal.

After Santa, many of the families left.  It was dark and some had walked from across the highway, other places they needed to return to before it got darker.  Right away we started up the fireworks.

The fireworks was the one thing I was truly excited about.  I wanted there to be a huge display but only had a budget for $80.  What I hadn't thought about getting until I saw it, was sparklers.  A package of 10 was pretty cheap so I got enough for 100 kids.  This was the single most important decision I made.  The sparklers were the frosting on the cake!!!!

Living in a small town where everyone has a strong opinion and has no problem expressing it can be a challenge.  Trying to conjure up the energy to deal with the obstacles gets pretty draining.......but for those of you who did your best to discourage and draw attention from the good things in life - specifically this party for the children - you failed!!

There is an old saying - "You can tell more about a person by what he says about others, than you can by what others say about him."  You were heard loud and clear.

Yesterday was Christmas - a new year on the horizon.  May the coming year be happy, healthy and prosperous for all of you who bother to read this blog.

Pura Vida