Brinnon Kids Christmas Party hands out meals, gifts

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Alicia Simmons’ family has lived in Brinnon for the past two years, but the Kids Christmas Party at the Brinnon Community Center already has become a holiday tradition for her bustling brood.

“Last year, we got a drone here, which is not something I would have been able to do as a gift, especially with my family of four kids,” Simmons said. “This community is super generous toward its children, which has also helped out tremendously with school supplies.”

The Brinnon Community Center drew an estimated 60 children and their families, including parents and grandparents, to the Kids Christmas Party on Dec. 15. John Watson, the cook at the Halfway House Restaurant, was joined by his wife, Jacki, and their neighbor, Jerry Novak, in serving up pizzas to families.

“My kids are all grown and gone, so it’s fun to watch the kids here,” John Watson said. “This is all for them. Over the years, we’ve narrowed down our menu based on the feedback we’ve gotten. Adults go for pepperoni pizza, but kids seem to love either Canadian bacon or pineapple and cheese. Keep it simple, and they’ll love it.”

Kendra Hanninen has been organizing the Kids Christmas Party in Brinnon for the past three years, although she estimated the annual event predated her involvement by at least a decade.

Hanninen shared credit for assembling the event with those in the kitchen, the five volunteers who donated their time to wrap presents for an anticipated 110 children, and three others who supervised the activity stations to keep kids engaged while they waited for Santa’s arrival via fire truck.

“At the one station, kids write thank-you letters to Santa for the gifts they’ll be getting,” Hanninen said. “At another, they collect up all the frosting and sprinkles and other ingredients they’ll need to decorate their own sugar cookies. They get to do arts and crafts at the third station.”

Hanninen said that, by completing all the stations, the kids earn tickets for prize drawings of presents. Since many of those presents were supplied by World Vision, she and her volunteer crew spent as little as $400 on gifts and $150 on food for this year’s party.

“We saved a lot of food by using homemade dough for the pizza,” Hanninen said. “And the community has contributed, too, through avenues like the donation jar at the Brinnon School.”

Because the student body of the Brinnon School has grown in recent years, Hanninen expected more children who would need gifts this year, especially with a number of kids either coming from Quilcene or visiting their parents from Seattle and other locales further afield.

“This lets us give a few more gifts to each kid this year, but that’s OK,” Hanninen said. “What matters is that not one child should ever walk away from here without getting a gift from Santa. That was the promise I made when I started doing this.”