Thanking people, groups this Christmas

The 2016 holiday season promises to be memorable for the number of people and organizations who worked unselfishly to make Christmas a special occasion for the families and children in the Lahontan Valley.

The Christian Life Center begins the holiday sharing and fellowship every year with their annual Thanksgiving meal, which is held the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Hundreds of guests enjoy both the meal and fellowship. On Thanksgiving Day, Navy and civilian volunteers assisted American Legion Post 16 to package and deliver almost 140 meals, a jump from 2015. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1002 had an afternoon Thanksgiving day dinner by opening their doors for anyone who needed a warm meal. In one way or another, Fallon’s veterans groups such as the VFW, American Legion, the Navy’s Fleet Reserve and U.S. Marine Corps Reserve make a big impact in Churchill County.

Our city leaders have a soft spot for the Christmas season: Fallon had its annual tree lighting on Maine Street and open house. The tree lighting gives families an opportunity to come downtown, watch the lighting and allow the children to sit on Santa’s lap and give him their wish list. This year’s crowd on a somewhat warm Friday night produced wall-to-wall people on Maine Street.

The Masonic Lodge handed out free cocoa and cookies as did several church groups on the east side of Maine Street.

Numerous craft fairs sold both conventional and unique items with proceeds earmarked for community activities or scholarships. Out of Egypt conducted its annual Christmas Bazaar a week later.

The Comstock Cowboys Christmas show last week generated proceeds that went to the Mayor’s Youth Fund.

Santa Claus came in the form of the Henning family and Fallon Ford Toyota. For each vehicle sold, Fallon Ford Toyota donated $50 toward to one of 13 organizations on its list. That translates into more than $40,000 in local donations.

Fallon can also be proud of the community endeavor to collect and distribute toys for families. The annual Iron Order Motorcycle Club Toy Run with help from the Eagles collected many toys to help the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. The toy donations were presented to the Marine Corps League High Desert Detachment and cash donations to the Fallon Youth Club. The Trees of Christmas also generated funds for Toys for Tots.

The Homestead collected food, while Berney Realty collected pajamas.

The Churchill County Social Services and the Independent Telephone Pioneer Association 3101 Churchill County worked with Wishing Tree to ensure every needy child received toys this week.

The Salvation Army’s group of volunteers also got into the holiday spirit with their bell ringers. The Nevada Highway Patrol and first-responders helped local groups such as the local senior citizens and Out of Egypt Pantry.

If we forgot anyone, please email us at news@lahontanvalleynews.com, and we’ll mention you next week.