Christmas boxes became family tradition
Toronto couple with 11 kids, including three sets of twins, made holiday a grand affair
Despite having 11 children and struggling financially, Rene Varalo, who worked long hours as a forklift truck operator during the 1960s, had to snip the branches off the bottom of his Christmas tree every year to fit all the presents underneath — many of which came from the Star Santa Claus Fund.
“I never worried,” Varalo told the Star in 1979, for a story about the birth of his third set of twins. That’s no typo. “Twins come in threes for her!” blazed the Star’s headline. “I was always a hustler. I always made sure there was plenty of food.”
His children, now all over the age of 50, remember their father and mother as hardworking, strict, loving parents who would make Christmas in their Toronto home a grand affair. “My mom and dad would wake us up at 12 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Each one of us would run down the stairs with a brand-new pair of pyjamas, and we would wait on the couch for one of my dad’s friends dressed up as Santa Claus to appear,” said Sonia Varalo, 59. “They made Christmas so very special.”
With a family so large, Rene Varalo sometimes worked two jobs. He and his wife, Estelle Varalo, applied to receive gift boxes from the Santa Claus Fund for many years to ensure their children woke up to presents.
The Santa Claus Fund is a charity initiative that provides and delivers Christmas gifts to 45,000 underprivileged children aged newborn to 12 across Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax and Pickering. The presents, age-specific and gender neutral, are delivered by teams of volunteers.
Recipients receive a gift box with a warm shirt (toddlers get a fleecelined tracksuit while newborn infants get a five-piece set that includes onesies), a warm hat, warm gloves or mittens, socks, a toy, a book, cookies and dental hygiene items (aged 4 and up) inside.
“My dad always told us that people out there are kind and that they helped us,” Sonia said.
“He and my mom really appreciated the help.”
Star readers first met the Varalo family in a story in 1958, when Sonia and her twin sister, Sandra Desaulniers, were born — the second pair of twins their parents had that year, exactly 11 months and 11 days apart. “Stork on Overtime” read the Star headline. The Star caught up with the couple 21 years later, only to discover they had had a third set of twins — David and Douglas.
With such a large family, the children were raised with love and a great amount of discipline, Desaulniers said. Her father did not allow sleepovers and visits from friends, but every year he would get the family a real Christmas tree.
“I had a childhood and that’s not common nowadays. Kids are always just on the computer,” Desaulniers said. “I remember telling my children of the beautiful memories that we had, and my kids had nice memories, but they hadn’t had as nice memories as us.”
Rene suffered a fatal accident in 1982 and his wife died from cancer a few years after. The two had met in Gatineau, Que., after a friend introduced them, and married in 1948. They moved to Toronto seven years later.
The boxes became a tradition in the family and something all the children looked forward to. The family often reminisces about the boxes, Desaulniers said.
“We all looked forward to having it because we knew there would be nice things in it,” Desaulniers said. “I’m not sure why but the mittens were my favourite part.”
The two sisters now live in Val-d’Or, Que. When they are together, they love to remember the Christmases they had growing up. The excitement for the season still hasn’t left them, said Sonia, who now has seven grandchildren.
“I get so excited every year and I always decorate the house. My Christmas spirit has always been like a child,” Sonia said. “My mom and dad passed on the tradition of the joy of Christmas to all of us and it’s always been with us.”