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Partly Cloudy with Haze Spirit of ‘togetherness’ was alive at St. Peter’s Church
Pancakes with Santa was a big hit last Saturday, as dozens of families gathered at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church to attend this festive, annual event.
For the fifth year, the church hosted a fun, interactive event where kids can create Christmas themed crafts while also spending time with Santa. The event was broken down into a photo-op with Santa, a raffle, and a thrift shop to buy last minute Christmas items. Caroline Vert has been going to this event for the past couple of years and she thought it was a great way to bring the community together.
“I think it was a really nice event,” Vert said. “ It was well-organized and great for all ages. Everyone was having fun together and it was a nice community event.”
Vert found out about this event through her fiancé’s family who belong to the church. She noted that when she talked to the families at the event, people were there not only from Baldwin, but from Queens, Freeport, and surrounding communities.
“The kids get to have a lot of time with Santa at this event,” Vert said. “It’s also not rushed because there are two separate time slots for when this event took place.”
Vert mentioned that the kids received “one-on-one” time with Santa via the photo-op. Santa also walked around and greeted the kids. Vert said that this Santa was “really good” and stood out to her because he would interact with the kids more than other Santas at events like these.
“He looks exactly like Santa and he embodies the spirit of Santa,” Vert said. “He would walk around and make personal connections with the kids. He didn’t just sit down for the whole time. After the kids came up to him, he would walk around to the tables where the kids were sitting.”
The kids participated in decorating foam Christmas trees and there were some volunteers there who were playing games with the kids. The patrons of the church made the pancakes, along with eggs, bagels, and sausages.
“The families in the church coming together and the togetherness of everyone with everyone working together and bringing their own different skills and talents, made this event unique,” Vert said.
Although Vert doesn’t have any kids, she noted that this event was great for both adults and children. She enjoys going to this event for the raffles and seeing fellow community members.
“I feel like at these events, you really do see the expression, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, come alive,” Vert said. “The children can just come up to anyone and they’ll be helpful and lead them in the right direction of something fun, and everybody is familiar with each other. But even if someone new comes in, you feel like family right away.”
Vert said that she definitely recommends this event to other people and especially an upcoming event on Dec. 17. That event will entail a narration and soundtrack with live animals demonstrating nativity. This will occur also at St. Peter’s church and it is free to the public.
