Need a gift idea for your child? We can help
In the finest tradition of local Christmas spirit, our newspaper this week presents our annual aid to local parents: our Letters to Santa Edition.
How many times has your child, when asked what he or she wants for Christmas, simply replies, “Santa knows. I already told him.”
“That’s nice. What did you tell him?” “He knows. I told him when I was sitting on his lap.” Frustrating? Indeed. But we have your back. For many years, we have printed the letters to Santa in which local kids write to Santa Claus to tell the jolly old elf exactly what they want for Christmas. If your child won’t spill the beans about a desired gift, voila! The instructions are likely in this week’s paper – at least a couple of them per child – if the typesetter could decipher sometimes scratchy handwriting.
It’s truly one of our favorite editions of the year, and you can’t help but smile while reading the letters, even if you don’t have a little one you’re shopping for. We find it a perfect way to really kick in the Christmas spirit.
And now a word of thanks for all those who help make Christmas bright for families in our communities, the folks who provide food and gifts to many in need.
The North Big Horn Hospital Share-a-Stocking program has been around for a quarter century, and for the last 20 years it has been organized by hospital Marketing, Foundation and Grants Coordinator Janet Koritnik. Annually, Janet spends countless hours organizing the program – making sure the stockings with gift ideas get out to the public, organizing the purchased presents by family, wrapping them, notifying families that they can pick up presents, working with the police department for delivery to some families and making sure it all comes together just in time for Christmas.
Yes, she has some help from husband Joe and some hospital district staff members. But Janet carries the load. One need only to look at the roomful of presents on distribution week piled high at the chamber of commerce building to understand the magnitude of this project.
This year, Share-a-Stocking will put a smile on the face of some 187 children from 66 families in our area.
Janet is truly one of the most selfless people we know. The Share-a-Stocking program wouldn’t happen without her.
Likewise, the Lovell Firemen’s Christmas Basket program has been going for decades, providing a Christmas bounty to families who can use a leg up. Thanks to the generosity of the community and the efforts of firemen like assistant chief Bob Mangus, around 170 families will be able to put a nice meal on the table at Christmastime.
Like Janet, Bob has a system down pat, but it takes hours of picking up and hauling canned goods and organizing the baskets at the firehall. The assembly line the firemen put together is something to behold.
Isn’t this all in the finest spirit of Christmas – a time of generous giving and loving help for others? It’s one more reason why living in this community – all of North Big Horn County – is something special.