CHRISTMAS VILLAGE 2022

Who worked approximately 6-7 hours per day for about five weeks to build a Christmas Village? You know who they are – many of our dedicated Rotarians. Bill Lowe said, “The club is going all out with a giant tent to house Santa on his sleigh, a beautiful Christmas village, animatronics, lights galore, and of course, snow. The whole historic town of Mariposa will be getting into the spirit by decorating all along Main Street, CA Highway 140 / 49. As with the Halloween Trunk or Treat Event, we are expecting over 1,000 children and their parents.”
But what happened? Just when we were about to put the village up across the street from the Courthouse, rain came. In giving sympathy to Sarah Constable, one of those hard-working Rotarians, Sarah’s response was, “Well, we’ll have it all ready for next year.” Now that’s a positive attitude.
Fortunately, it didn’t rain on December 17th, so the “Rotary Crew” raised the tent and set up the village. Professional photographer, Joanna Ransom, snapped pictures of the children and their families with Santa, John McCamman, in a red sleigh. The photographer was very quick, let the kids tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas and then sped them on their way. The other elves and I kept the kids out of the photos until it was their turn. A basket full of candy certainly helped with that. The elves who assisted Santa were Elaine Seymour, Debbie Peters, Earl Heitzman, Margarita King, Jim Wittkopf, Sue Weihe, and me, Chery Davis. One very little girl came over to hug my legs.
Another tiny girl said her mom told her she would see elves. She asked me if I was an elf, and I said, “Yes." Then she took her finger and lightly poked my arm. So cute. The line of children and their families went on for about 2 hours. Bill Lowe and Michael Hall had a snow blowing machine that the kids loved, music, and a letter box for mail to Santa that several families used. The Lions Club served free hot dogs and warm drinks. Heidi Dulcich provided lots of popcorn that everybody loved.
By Chery Davis