Stratford
COMMUNITY LIVING
Send Stratford news to: RR@tpprinting.com phone: 715-223-2342 fax: 715-223-3505 P.O. Box 677 103 West Spruce Street Abbotsford, WI 54405 VFW welcomes Santa
Stratford VFW Post No. 6352 has this attitude of “yes, we can,” and despite the COVID19 pandemic causing community event cancellations this year, VFW members decided kids still needed Christmas.
The VFW extended an invitation to Santa Claus to come visit the Stratford VFW for two hours on Saturday to talk with children and their parents drive-through style. Santa didn’t have any other obligations that day, he ordered good weather and the COVID-safe event was a success, according to Stratford VFW member Terry Schoenherr.
Besides children having the chance to share their Christmas wish list with jolly Santa, they also received generous bags of holiday treats from the VFW Post and Santa’s elves and got to listen to live holiday music, thanks to musicians and vocalists Paul “Buck” Drexler and Lori Wozniak.
Hosting the event was the right thing to do, especially in light of everything happening this year, Schoenherr said.
“We cancelled Memorial Day services and Veterans Day observances with area schools while the village of Stratford cancelled ‘Christmas in the Park,’ so we decided we had to do something,” he said.
Schoenherr, Paul Burggraf and Norbert Lee “got together and we decided to still make the best of it. We had to do something because if you don’t do something one year things slide. And that’s what we’re about–community.”
They enlisted other VFW members to help with the event, including packing holiday bags for children filled with plenty of treats, greeting children and families as they drove into the VFW clubhouse parking lot and distributing the holiday bags.
“It’s fun; that’s the important part,” Schoenherr said. “That’s the same with brat fries and steak feeds we sponsor; they’re fun. These are organizational things, we have good people and it’s for the community.”
Other VFW elves who helped at the event included Leroy Syring, Tom Zuelke and his daughter, Emily, Chuck Wenzel and Helen Wisnewski.
Mill Church event
People are invited to enjoy an open house-style, midbuilding project walkthrough of The Mill Church’s new church, located on STH 97 on the north side of the village of Stratford, from 5-8 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 20.
Christmas-themed worship music will be playing in the new church sanctuary, where attendees are encouraged to spend time in prayer.
Lights and heat will be provided in the new church but attendees are requested to wear masks during the event.
