By Corey Boice

On Sunday, December 3, the Student Government Association (SGA) threw a Christmas party for families in the surrounding communities around Hamburg to come and enjoy with their kids. The event went from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.. with the Franciscan Spirit Club leading the event with a Live Nativity at 2 p.m. The Live Nativity was put on by Hilbert students and featured live animals. Families and clubs attending were encouraged to go and watch the Live Nativity and support the Franciscan Spirit Club here at Hilbert College.

While members of both the Hilbert community and the surrounding communities were enjoying the Nativity, the rest of the clubs and organizations were in the gym finishing their last-minute preparations for the kids. Approximately one hundred and thirty people came, and,  once the families were signed in, they started to flood the gym and get right into the activities and crafts that the clubs set up. Both the children and the parents seemed happy to be there and enjoying themselves.

The mastermind behind planning everything and making sure the event ran smoothly was the SGA’s Vice President of Programming, Danyel Nocito. The clubs presented its craft and activity ideas to her to make sure that no club was doing the same thing, and she made sure the event had food, a photo booth, and Santa Clause! Children were able to get their pictures with Santa Clause before he had to head back to the North Pole, and those photos were quickly printed out at the photo booth.

As for the crafts and activities, there was plenty for the children to do. The kids got to make tree ornaments with Adventure Club, Santa Clause plates with the Criminal Justice/Forensic Science Association, Tealight Snowman (battery-operated candles) with the Common Ground Club, festive buttons with the Communications Club, candy cane ornaments with Enactus, fillable plastic ornaments with Great Expectations, construction paper reindeer with the Hilbert Helpers, holiday necklaces with the Hilbert Starz, hand wreaths with the Never Miss Dance Club, and gingerbread ornaments and placemats with Students Against Destructive Decisions.

The children got to enjoy some games as well. They participated in the snowman slam with the Black Student Union, pin the nose on Rudolph/hat on the elf with Freudian Slips, Christmas wreath toss with the Gaming and Anime Club, skiing video game with the Ski Club, and a snowman snowball toss with the Student Athlete Advisory Club.

Some of the clubs had tasty treats. Paper bag reindeer full of popcorn and other treats were at the Green Hawks table, holiday cookies at the Phi Beta Lambda table, festive pretzel rods at the Human Services Association table, candy cane reindeer at the Rotaract table, and the kids got to fish for candy canes at the Spectrum table.

Families commented on how nice everything looked, and how much fun their kids were having at the multitude of tables. Club members who were at the event told us about how some kids would come up to their table a second or third time just to make another craft or to play a game again. Although there was so much going on for the kids, a lot of families loved the photos their kids got to take with Santa. Those photos were taken to the SGA table where kids and parents could make fun and festive frames for the picture.

SGA also encouraged families and kids to write Christmas cards to veterans. The table was set up right next to the SGA table, so once families finished making the picture frame, they would color and write a letter to a veteran. It was very heartwarming to watch the cards be made and reinforced how important those serving mean to us.