~ Submitted on behalf of Bedford Santa by Lorraine Griecci, Bobbie Ennis, Caroline Fedele, Christine Jesensky Bennett, Jennifer Stewart, Christine Smith, and David Dalrymple
The 2021 Bedford Community Santa Claus Project completed its 76th year with a combination of the traditional at-home visits and virtual pre-recorded video visits with Santa. There were 76 personalized videos and 4 generic ones for late registrants. In-person, 605 children were visited in 190 homes. We were in contact with the Board of Health’s Katherine Dagle to ensure we were as COVID safe as we could be. Her guidance was invaluable and we thank her for sharing her review and expertise. We appreciate the 12 families that notified us on Christmas Eve that their home either had a COVID positive individual or was the close contact of a positive individual. We hope to visit them next year.
We had six experienced Santa volunteers record personalized video messages. Two used their own homes (one in Poughkeepsie NY) and the remainder recorded at a temporary studio set up at the First Church of Christ. A big thank you to Pastor John Castricum and Secretary Kelley Connerty for helping to arrange the use of their facilities at the convenience of our volunteers.
Volunteers for 2021
Ansh Aggarwal; Claire Anderson; Saritha Athmakur; Sandy Baker; Andie Barker;Tom, Eli Barkovic & Pat Wardwell; Frank Baudanza; Ben, Cole, Tim Bennett & Christine Jesensky Bennett; Terri Bradford; Wayne Braverman; Dan Brosgol; Russell Bryan, Christine Smith & James Bryan; Mark Buccolo; Kristen & Laura Bullock; Ronnie Chester; Mark Cieplinski; Allan Coady; David, Jennifer Dalrymple and Amy & Ryan Dalrymple Wallace; Richard Davidson III; Nick, Mike and Christine Donovan; Bobbie Ennis; Rita Fardy; Caroline & Shayla Fedele, Steve Ferris, Claude French III, Ken Gordon, Dave, Francine & Dan Hennessey, David Johnson; JoLynne Johnson; Debbie Leenan; Lorraine Griecci; Johnny, Holly, Elizabeth & Eleanor Hong; Eric Larson; Cindy Lee; Emmanuel Li; Kelley Malloy; Kristin Marcus; Alex Mattsen; Kristy Mattsen; Cathy McCune; Lucy McGovern; Linda McGrath; Jim McMahon; Ruth Munden; Luke Noble; Ron, Lori Ann, Emmet & Adam O’Brien; Emily O’Hara; Will Paton; Bill Penwarden; Mike, Julie and Devon Porter; Paul, Barbara & Elyse Purchia; Myrna Reiss; Peter Ricci; Amanda & Tom Rowan; Ken Scheyder; Kathy Schnitger; Rayhan Semy; Paolo, Susan, Julia & Grace Sepe; Donna Sokolski; Jennifer Stewart; Henry Su; Thomas, Libby & Henry Sudlow; Martha Sullivan; Maureen Sullivan; Beth Taylor; John Thorsen; Claire Toupin; Judy Watkins; Andy Webber; Bob & Linda White; David Williams & Ellen Royalty.
We apologize for any volunteers that were inadvertently missed or where a name is misspelled. Special thanks to Santa Shoppers Saritha Athmakur & Cindy Lee. Thank you to Christine Jesensky Bennett for recruiting the Santa volunteers. Christine Smith handled supplies for both the video Santa Volunteers as well as the in-person Santa Volunteers on Christmas Eve. She also provided each Santa with his own kit to ensure there was no mixing of any items among the participants. Thank you to Claire Toupin and Francine Hennessey for doing the makeup for the fourteen in-person Santas. Lorraine Griecci handled the food for the volunteers as well as the new family communication to folks just moving into Bedford.
Jennifer Stewart handled her many varied roles of social media coordinator, website design, registration form creation, registrar, database maintainer, and distributor of the videos. A very special shout-out as she handled the increase in workload with the hybrid model of both the video visits and the in-person visits. David Dalrymple provided some of the video equipment used, edited and uploaded the videos. In addition, he handled consolidation, changes, and statistics as he normally has done.
Thank you to Boy Scout Troop 194 for providing set-up labor and transportation on Gift Drop Day. Will Paton, Emmanuel Li, and Alex Mattsen provided Christmas Eve set up. Will Paton and David Dalrymple handled Christmas Eve clean-up. Lorraine Griecci, Christine Smith, Russell Bryan, and James Bryan handled clean-up day.
A special shout out to Lapels which handles our cleaning and storage needs for the Santa suits and accessories; they have been very accommodating to our needs since we switched over to them during the last few years. Dunkin Donuts and Ken’s Deli were the source of food for the volunteers on Gift Drop Day; Ken’s Deli was kind enough to wrap all our food individually to keep our volunteers safe. Special thanks to Cliff and Carol Washer for providing storage for the program materials and access to it on short notice. Thank you to the School Department and the Town of Bedford for the use of the John Glenn Middle School. The efforts and helpfulness of janitors Josh French and Greg Barry was greatly appreciated.
Looking Toward 2022
We are hoping 2022 will be back to our past pre-COVID efforts and hope to welcome back all our perennial volunteers that weren’t able to participate due to the effects of the pandemic. Thank you Bedford for your support during this holiday season and for being flexible during this time of uncertainty.
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