BabsBookBistro is hosting Granny today. Join us for a guest post from Julie. Learn more about the characters in the Fuchsia Minnesota Series by Julie Seedorf, published by Cozy Cat Press.
Christmas gifts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Recently I did a story on a sub Santa Program in my home town. Sub Santa provides gifts for those children that otherwise would not have a Christmas this year because of their family circumstances. I think Leo Buscaglia says it best when it comes to what we can do to help someone else.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
This is brief excerpt of the story that will appear in The Courier Sentinel this week.
Dawn Navarra has been working with the Sub Santa program sponsored by the Wells, Minnesota Lake and Kiester Lions Clubs for 12 years. It is the smiles on the faces of the children, knowing that they are going to get a gift that puts a smile on Dawn’s face. “When I see that smile on the face of a child it goes way into my heart.”
Sub Santa started many years before that at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, organized by Audrey Schroeder. The Lions became involved with the program about eighteen years ago.
Sub Santa provides gifts for children who might not otherwise have a gift under the tree on Christmas. Trees with tags are set up in area banks in Kiester, MN Lake and at three banks in Wells.
This might be a story about three small communities in Minnesota but the Caring and Sharing and Sub Santa programs are helping all across the nation sponsored by different groups and different individuals. Please take the time to find one and put a smile on a child’s face this Christmas.
There is a real need in our communities,” Navarra shared, “Until you
work with it, you don’t really know.
We don’t know unless we experience it ourselves. The entire article can be read in the Courier Sentinel. Like their Facebook page for updates on their new website coming soon. https://www.facebook.com/TheCourierSentinel
Remember what you do to help someone else, may change their lives forever.
My journey this week has taken me to the interviewing platform with one of the papers that I write for, The Courier Sentinel. https://www.facebook.com/TheCourierSentinel. Each week after my interviews and after they appear in the paper,with the parties permission, I will give some highlights on this blog. Isn’t that what this n that is all about?
This week I had so much fun. I visited the Rustic Pines Tree Farm. The Tree Farm is located south of of Kiester, Minnesota and is owned by Keith and Carol Rinehart and their sons.
Immediately upon getting out of my car I saw the smiles on the faces of a family that had found their perfect Christmas Tree. I watched as the tree was shaked (yes, they shake, rattle and roll the tree) to get the old needles out of the tree. It is then baled so it is easier to haul and get into a house. Walking around the property I remembered the times I spent in the fall and winter walking around my Grandmother’s Farm. I loved the knots in the trees, the cool Silo, which has a story of it’s own that I hope to tell early in the next year, and the beauty and peacefulness of walking through the different types of Evergreen Trees.
Walking into the gift shop my greeting was a cup of warm cider and a warm stove surrounded by barrel chairs for me to sit and enjoy the smell of the evergreen wreaths as they were being made. Complementing that were the hand-made crafts made by different crafters from the area that were available for sale. The friendliness of the owners and their staff and the atmosphere they provided kept me smiling for a long time.
It calmed my soul to walk among the trees and sit by the fire and feel the season coming to life.
If you want to know more, check out this weeks Courier Sentinel. The paper is expanding online after the first of the year. The link for the Facebook Page for the paper is listed above. I will list the links for the Tree Farm: https://www.facebook.com/RusticPinesTreeFarm, http://www.rusticpinestreefarm.com/index.html
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, Much Pleasure Do You Bring Me. (From the song, Oh Christmas Tree)
Sprinkled Notes 