We are excited to bring back our annual holiday party for our families!
The event will be held at Scout Park Conference Center, as has been the location for the past several years.
The event will take place from 1 pm – 4 pm on Sunday, December 5th.
In order to control the amount of people, due to facility capacity, but mostly due to
COVID, each session will be 125 people or less.
Santa and Mrs Claus will be in attendance during the duration of the party, to greet
children & families, and to pass out the gifts to children (13 and under) and ALL self-
advocates.
Families will wait in line to greet Santa & Mrs Claus in the lobby area, as usual.
o IwillsecureaphotographertotakepictureswithSanta&MrsClaus.
o Oncephotoshavebeentaken,familieswillproceedintothelargepartyarea.
As a family enters the party room, a volunteer will hand a goodie bag to each child (13
and under & ALL self-advocates).
o Thebagwillcontainatakehomekitthatwillincludeanornamenttheycanmake;a holiday themed coloring book and crayons and another holiday themed goodie.
They will then be able to add any toys won that day to the bag.
Once inside the “party room”, there will be (fewer than normal) tables & chairs set up
where families can chat, have a “home base”, etc.
We will have a DJ playing music, so those that wish, can dance the day away!
o WillhaveDJannouncethetimethateachgroupwillneedtovacatetheroomto be ready for the next group to arrive)
As for activity stations, I’m suggesting the following:
o Oversizedbowling(easytosprayoffthebowlwheneachparticipantisdoneplaying) (will receive toy prize)
o Storytime–avolunteerwillreadChristmasstoriestothekidsatthisstation
o Reindeerringtossgame(we’llmakepipecleaner“rings”thatcangohomewith
each player) (toy prize at this station)
o Fishinggame–kidswillfishwithapole,volunteerwillattachaprizetothepole
(again, easy to wipe the pole down between players).
We could have small bottled waters available in the “party room”, along with individual
bagged snacks (i.e. Smart Pop, Goldfish crackers, etc.) that folks could munch on.
As families leave the party, a volunteer could give each person in attendance an
individually packaged cookie.
Each family would also receive a ticket to the Festival of Lights (where DSANI sponsors
a small light display). I can buy these at a bulk rate discount. The ticket would depend on money available after other costs have been finalized for the Holiday Party.
OTHER PERTINENT DETAILS
We will, of course, have plenty of hand sanitizer and wipes available around the facility to be used as needed, by volunteers at game areas, etc.
We will use 1-2 volunteers to check families in as they enter the facility, as usual.
Set up will be on Saturday, December 4 at 10 am. We will need volunteers for set up, tear down and for the event itself. Please let me know which (or all) of these times you would be available to volunteer.
I will send out the initial email about the Holiday Party on November 1. Deadline to request toys or gift cards will be November 15th.
I will also set up either a Sign Up Genius or Event Brite “ticketing” page to monitor the number of people who can attend each session.
As always, I’m open for any other ideas you may have! I know this will be a big change for some of our families – but as I will point out to all families – this is the best format for still being able to have a Holiday Party this year – while keeping people as safe as possible. Along with everyone else, I’m absolutely hoping that next year’s party will be back to a more “traditional” format!
Please let me know if you have any questions.