LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Beth Stein, left, and Dee Hood pose with the delightful Christmas mailbox and décor they created for drive-by events Dec. 12 and 19 at the Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin. Kids were invited to drop off their letters to Santa and, if able, nonperishable food items for Meet Me in the Street Ministry.
Area children drop off letters to Santa Claus, food for folks at same time
By LOIS KINDLE
The Firehouse Cultural Center was Santa Central Dec. 12 and 19, when school-age kids from the surrounding community were invited to visit St. Nick and take home some gift bags filled with art-inspired goodies, while they were there. And parents were asked, if able, to drop off some nonperishable foods for Meet Me in the Street Ministry.
“Part of our mission is to be here for the community,” said Beth Stein, program’s coordinator for the Firehouse. “We gave away about 60 of the goody bags and collected a lot of food for people in need. It was a win-win for everyone.”
Stein said she wished more families had taken part, but the event was a success, nevertheless.
“It would be awesome to do this annually,” she said.
Stein came up with the idea several weeks ago, and her friend Dee Hood, a faculty emeritus with the Ringling College of Art, volunteered to help. Together they created a festive backdrop for the event, including a huge mailbox for the kids’ letters, from a design Hood had drawn.
“We looked in every nook and cranny of the Firehouse for supplies,” Stein said. “All we had to buy was a couple of boards. Everything else was repurposed.”
Then we decided to put together the art-inspired goodie bags to associate the Firehouse with creativity, with the act of making something,” Hood added.
The bags included some combination of crayons and coloring or activity books, watercolor sets, foam airplanes, comic strip books, flip-style animal books, air-dry clay, candy canes and more.
The kids also received kits to make Santa Claus face mobiles and a 3-D Christmas tree, plus instructions for making a puzzle maze.
Lennard High School students Kat O’Hair and John Ivery played the role of elves and handed out the bags. John Smith, of H&R Block, played Santa.
“Because of the crazy year we’ve had, children have not had the opportunity to visit Santa as they would usually do,” Stein said. “This drive-through event was a great way for the Firehouse to help create a semblance of normalcy for them.”
The event was well received.
“The children were thrilled,” Hood said. “One little girl had her mom stop by the store on their way here to buy cookies for Santa. And three children rode up on their bicycles carrying canned goods to donate.”
BETH STEIN PHOTO
Santa hands out a goodie bag to a child stopping by the Firehouse Cultural Center as one of his elves looks on Dec. 12.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
John Smith, an area manager with H&R Block, was a fine-looking stand in for Santa Claus Dec. 12 and 19 during a special Christmas event at the Firehouse Cultural Center.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Lennard High School student Kat O’Hair takes a break from playing the role of Christmas elf Dec. 19 at the Firehouse Cultural Center.
BETH STEIN PHOTO
Playing the Jolly Old Soul, John Smith, of H&R Block, awaits about 60 children who drove by to see him, drop off their Christmas wishes and receive art-filled goodie bags to take home.
BETH STEIN PHOTO
This was the scene awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus Dec. 12 at the Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin. Lennard High School student Kat O’Hair played the elf inside the mailbox.
