April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION PARISH
St. Nicholas' Workshop keeps kids busy in Latham
St. Nicholas' Workshop keeps kids busy in Latham
The annual event, which has been offered for about a dozen years, is meant to get the kids in the spirit of Christmas while providing parents some time to do a little Christmas prepping of their own.
Chatter about the upcoming season filled the hallway of OLA's LaSalle Hall as children went from one activity to the other. Each room in the hall had an activity: games, crafts, cookie decorating, movies and story time. "I'm excited about watching movies and making cookies," said Clare Cunningham, a fourth-grader at Boght Hills Elementary School.
Cookie-making was by far the favorite station, with dozens of blank cookies, different colors of frosting and sprinkles at the ready for the young chefs. Shannon Hockford, a fourth-grader at Boght Hills, declared that she was going to eat her cookies immediately, while other children talked about bringing them home to share with their families.
Members of the parish's youth ministry supervised the younger children. Two teens were assigned as "group leaders" for kids grouped by grade level, following the groups to different activities while other teen volunteers stayed at activity stations.
Many of the teens came to St. Nicholas' Workshop themselves, when they were younger.
"It's just so much fun to be here with everyone," said Hannah Malicki. "It gets you in the spirit."
Now a sophomore at nearby Shaker High School, Hannah has been going to the workshop since she was three years old. This year, she was the group leader for the three-year-olds.
"They are quiet and shy at first," she told The Evangelist. "Once you get through a station or two, they warm up to you."
Many of the children in Hannah's group informed her they wanted either dolls or Legos for Christmas. Fourth-grader Clare wants a Kit doll, the adventurous American Girl from the 1930s.
"The rest, I want as a surprise," she added.
The entire event was organized by Cait Wood, another sophomore at Shaker. Back in October, the 16-year-old started making lists of craft supplies and gathering volunteers.
"It takes a while to get everything ready," she said, but it's worth it: "I just love seeing all the kids' faces and how excited their faces get. It's nice seeing them happy around Christmastime.
"When I was a kid I used to participate in it and it was always fun," she noted. "I probably did it about six times."
Rosemary Gavin, OLA's pastoral associate for youth ministry and teen faith formation, helped to supervise the event. Events like this, she said, are how teens give back to the parish.
St. Nicholas' Workshop is just one of several fundraisers, the youth ministry does during the year. The proceeds fund future children's events.
Ms. Gavin noted that the numbers for the workshop were down a bit this year, with 40 kids and 30 teen volunteers participating. "Normally, we have upwards of 50 to 75 kids," she said.
The children's joy during the workshop was still evident as they threw "snowballs" in the game room until they were breathless, then switched over to a craft station.
"We're doing angels with glitter for the little kids," said Jenna Fazzone, an eighth-grader at Shaker Junior High. Other groups made Santa Claus faces out of paper plates and reindeer from paper bags.
After a short Mickey Mouse film, the children heard a story read by the youth ministry members. At the end of the day, St. Nicholas made an appearance in the person of Dave Roberts, handing out candy canes to the excited youngsters.[[In-content Ad]]
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