Kicking off the holiday

It was hard to tell whether the kids or the volunteers were having the most fun as hundreds of kids, dozens of volunteers, city officials, firefighters, police officers and even Santa Claus met on the corner of Fourth and Maine to kick off the holiday season in Spirit Lake last Friday afternoon.

More than 300 children from nearby Spirit Lake Elementary School marched the couple of blocks from the school to Maine Street where they were met with festive music provided by the Timberlake High School Band.

As the teacher-led groups of excited children neared their destination, they dropped off cans of food for the food bank, filling several barrels along the way. Once they reached the party, they were treated to cookies, made and handed out by members of nutrition classes at Timberlake; hot chocolate donated by the Spirit Lake Food Bank; and candy canes donated by Panhandle State Bank.

Santa’s arrival on a Spirit Lake Fire Department fire truck was a highlight of the event.

Fascinated children gave cheers as a police car blocked off Maine Street and a city fire truck blasting “Here Comes Santa Claus” delivered Santa. He waved to the crowd, jumped down from the truck, and quickly began handing out candy canes, with a few hearty “Ho, Ho, Hos.”

Fire Chief John Debernardi said members of Spirit Lake’s fire department look forward to the event each year. “It’s a wonderful day to come out and enjoy the kids and surprise them with a little holiday spirit,” he said.

Mayor Roxy Martin says she also looks forward to sharing the excitement on Maine Street during the city’s holiday kickoff party. She said the annual event, begun by the food bank at least 10 years ago, is now sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and supported by the entire town.

It changes a little each year, according to the mayor. This year city officials decided to dress up Maine Street with a few holiday decorations in time for the event. “We just did that this morning – it’s new for us,” said the mayor. “Three days ago a gentleman here in town decided we needed to do something, so we’ve been out all morning.”

And it won’t end there, said the mayor. She mentioned how beautiful Rathdrum looks with all its downtown decorations. “We can’t do all that stuff Rathdrum does, but we’ll keep working on it,” she said. “Next year we are already planning something a little more fluffy – it’s a really nice thing.”

Once the final candy canes had been handed out and the band had exhausted its inventory of holiday songs, the small groups of children headed back to school. The volunteers began cleaning up; and their work done, the firefighters posed for a group picture with Santa, hoisted him into the fire truck and drove away, merrily blasting “Christmas in Killarney.”