 |
Mending a broken body in steps
Hobbits turn out
for `Rings'
School board
member is unlikely to give up the fight
Habitat will push
on with cash from Ford grant
Toy-and-Joy:
A season of giving |
Firefighters and their families play elves, collecting and
delivering presents to the town's need on Christmas eve |
By Schellene Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
 Megan Tarmichael is just tall enough to see over the top of the table. But
the tiny blonde girl dressed in pink with a few crumbs of divinity lingering on her cheek
was excited about gathering and wrapping gifts.
So excited, in fact, she couldn’t remember how old she was for a minute.
“I’m four, no...five,” she said, looking to her mom, Karen Tarmichael, for
confirmation.
“I did this last year,” Megan said while placing the three gifts on
the table, all suitable for an 11-year-old girl. “I picked these out,” she added
proudly holding up her selections before helping her mom.
Megan is one of the many elves busy preparing for Christmas day, as volunteer
firefighters and their families have gotten together for annual Toy ’n’ Joy toy
drive put on by the Newberg Firefighters.
The event has been going on for at least 60 years, according to division fire
chief Al Blodgett.
In spite of an occasional fire bell tolling in the background, an efficient
assembly line of tables laden with wrapping paper, tape, bows, ribbons and tags are manned
by both children and adults. The presents will be distributed to children in needy
families in the district.
Karen, whose husband works as a volunteer firefighter in Newberg, said last year
the group was wrapping until Christmas Eve. That day volunteers deliver the gifts to the
waiting families.
Volunteers are asked to pick at least one educational toy out of the piles of
Yu-gi-oh, National Geographic birds, porcelain dolls and games stacked along the walls
with hundreds of other toys.
“Either the program keeps us in line or we keep it in line,” said
Blodgett as he appraised what looked like a miniature Santa’s workshop in the middle
of the small storage room.
Blodgett said the program provides three toys each to children up to age 15
and names for families are either referred by outside sources or the families come in
themselves to sign up.
Names are then cross-referenced with those compiled by Friends in Service to
Humanity (F.I.S.H.) to ensure against duplication.
The program is supported by members of the community, Newberg High
School and such companies as A-Dec and Les Schwab, among others.
In addition, the group relies on fund-raisers held throughout the year to
raise money to pay for the toys and gift certificates for older children.
Organizers of the program hope to augment the donations of toys from
community members with $10,000 in toy purchases, Blodgett said.
The program will serve a record-breaking number of close to 400 families this
year, he said. Last year 309 families with more than 800 children were served.
“We love it because we are able to help the helpless,” Blodgett
said, adding when a mom opens her door with tears in her eyes because her children will
receive presents for Christmas, it makes all the volunteers’ work worthwhile.
The program began with one local firefighter rebuilding toys in his workshop
throughout the year. He then distributed the toys and bikes to children in the area whose
parents could not afford to buy gifts. The program has grown considerably since then,
Blodgett said.
“It evolved over time. We just love doing it,” he said. |
|
From Dec. 20,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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