Plains volunteers create Merry Christmas for young and old

They came with bashful smiles and eyes the size of silver dollars.

There, inside the old Plains school house on Montana 200, was a sight to behold, especially for the young at heart.

Direct from the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with two cheerful elves were waiting Sunday afternoon to hand out toys and candy canes to children from throughout the area.

The toy sharing event was the result of months of planning, creating and decorating carried out by members of the Joint Operations Mariposa veterans group, as well as several other community minded organizations.

Six-year-old Saiyuri Perry was the first to arrive. At first she didn’t know what to make of the colorful room and the Santa clan, but soon she broke into a million-dollar grin.

The Mariposa crew, along with the Stitch in Time sewing club, the VFW and the Plains Women’s Club, cut, sewed and stuffed 100 wooden toy trucks, dolls and bears for the kids.

“Merry Christmas,” said it all from Saiyuri when asked what she had to say. She selected a green stuffed bear as her before-Christmas gift.

She was soon followed by several other children and their parents who braved a strong, chill wind to get in on the pre-Christmas cheer.

The groups began making the dolls and bears several months ago, while Mariposa volunteers worked several weeks crafting the old-fashioned toy trucks and tractors.

“We’ve been working on this since last June,” said Santa (Dave Williams) as he posed for pictures with the kids. “This is the first time doing this at this site and we are really appreciative of those who’ve helped make this happen”.

Mrs. Claus (Terry Wendell) nodded in agreement, adding “it was a long trip to get here (from the North Pole).”

Santa and Mrs. Claus were joined by elves Ivy Horodyski and Alex Horodyski. All agreed the looks on the faces of the children was worth every minute of their efforts.

The groups have been distributing toys and other goodies to those who may not otherwise get a Christmas gift, although all children were welcome.

“We also put together Christmas stockings and stuffed them with fruit, stocking caps, flashlights and other goodies and took them to isolated or shut-in veterans throughout the county,” Williams said. “We’ve distributed 60 stockings this year to veterans from Bull River to Hot Springs.”

Members of the Women’s Club spent many hours decorating the inside of the old one-room school house, which is located on the southern end of the lot where the dental facility now sits.

Members of the VFW also helped distribute gifts and set up for the event. Stud Lumber of Plains donated wood for the toy trucks and tractors.

“We wish we could have made this a bigger event but everything is changed this year to do the virus,” Williams said.

Virus or not, it was a very good start to the Christmas spirit of giving.