BREAKFAST WITH SANTA
Families enjoy games, activities, food, and Santa Claus on Saturday morning
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Spa City children and their families spent a magical Saturday morning with games, activities, great food, and Santa Claus.
The Saratoga-Wilton Kiwanis teamed up with the BOCES CTE Culinary School, the Saratoga High School Key Club, and Girl Scout Troop 3278 to put on a very special event, their annual Breakfast With Santa.
From 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Saratoga Senior Center, event attendees could enjoy a hot breakfast in the “North Pole Dining Room,” decorate cookies, play games, listen to storytime with Mrs. Claus, write letters to Santa, visit the “Elves Craft Room” to make takehome holiday crafts, fill a paper box with goodies, and visit “Santa’s Workshop” to visit the big man himself and get their picture taken.
Families were welcomed into the dining room in 15-minute intervals to prevent overcrowding. Other activities were open for children to move in and out of at their own pace.
“We’ll do a couple hundred breakfasts today,” said Kiwanis President Maureen Clancy, who organized the event. “We usually max out at around 250.”
In the kitchen, the CTE students were hard at work, under the direction of Chef Celeste David and Assistant Chef Bruce Hoffman.
“We love to support the community, and we love working with the Kiwanis,” said David during a brief calm moment in between rounds of service. “They have so much purpose and so many ways that they give back. It’s important to teach the kids to give back. This is normally a day off for them, and some of them got up at 5 a.m. to be here.”
“I love doing this because it brings joy to the kids,” second-year student Jasmin Colon said. “It’s something I didn’t get to do as a child.”
“I love it because we’re all like a big family,” added second-year student Destany Barrows. “And you’re always working. It’s good experience for working in a professional kitchen - you have to be quick and efficient.”
“I like it - I like helping out people,” said Max Fredette, a first-year student, who added that working at an event like this was an opportunity he, along with most of the other students, wouldn’t normally get to experience if
not for the BOCES CTE program.
Their hard work was clearly paying off, as in the dining room the trash cans filled with plates that had been scraped clean, and happy compliments could be overheard by the diners.
“I think the food is good,” commented Chancellor Bagan, 9.
“The pancakes are really good,” agreed his sister Samantha Saunders, 7.
“We’ve been coming here for years,” said their grandmother Phyllis Richards. “I like that the kids are so happy! It’s getting exciting this close to Christmas.”
“I like that there are lots of activities for them to do,” added their mother, Stefanie Richards.
As the family debated what to do after breakfast, the children expressed interest in the hands-on crafts and activities, especially the cookie decorating station.
“You can’t forget the cookies!” exclaimed Samantha.
At every activity station throughout the Senior Center, the Kiwanis were kept busy for most of the morning, aided by their Key Club and Girl Scout helpers.
“We love our students from Key Club and Girl Scouts,” said Kiwanis member Barb Frasier, helping out in the Elves Craft Shop. “We couldn’t do this without them!”
The students themselves were happy to pitch in for the day.
“I like seeing all the kids getting so excited. It’s really cute,” said Girl Scout Lily Nelson.
“I think it’s nice to help out and make people happy,” added Key Club member Tabitha Elezi.
“I like this because I like to dress up festive,” said Girl Scout Amelie Przedwiecki. “I don’t get a lot of chances to do that.”
By the event’s end, children were going home happy with books, boxes of treats, keepsake photos, crafts they had made themselves, and goodie bags from Santa.
The next event the BOCES CTE Culinary Arts students will run is an “MRE
Cookoff” in January. The Culinary Arts program will partner with the Army for a “Chopped”-style cooking competition using MREs as the main ingredients.
The next event for the Saratoga-Wilton Kiwanis is one of their fundraisers at the Saratoga Beer and Wine Festival in February. They will volunteer at a coat check station, and all tips received will go directly towards funding more events like Breakfast with Santa.
The Kiwanis volunteers running the event were: Maureen Clancy, Barb and Truman Frasier, Cathy Hanna, Joe and Melissa LaFuara, April Winegard, Adam Doig, Sylvia and George Rogers, Cindy Schmehl, and Nadine Sleseman.