Wilder Harding, 4, sits on Santa Claus' (Andrew Zeutzius) lap at the American Legion Christmas party last Saturday. Wilder attended the packed-hall party with lots of other children and their families in the afternoon. More than 90 children attended the morning party.
Santa (Andrew Zeutzius) and his elf (Anny Newport) prepare to hand out presents to children who attended the Christmas party at the American Legion last Saturday.
The halls of the American Legion were decked out for the Christmas party last Saturday - wreaths and lights covered the walls, wrapped presents hung from the ceiling and children walked through an inflatable candy cane archway to receive their gifts from Santa.
Putting on this annual event takes months of careful planning and hard work, explained Jenny Mork of the American Legion. The Legion fundraises throughout the year and parents request specific gifts for their children when they sign up for the party in October. Each gift is hand-picked for each child according to their parents' specifications. "We shop around Thanksgiving time and barge (the presents) up to Wrangell," Mork said. "Then, we wrap them."
Wrapping around 200 presents is a herculean effort that requires countless volunteer hours. "This whole last week, we've been up here cleaning, wrapping and decorating," said Mork. She and her mother, Marilyn, along with a few other Legion members and community volunteers, do most of the work.
Mork has helped put on the event for the past 12 years because she "(likes) to see the kids and how happy they are."
Not every family can afford Legos, she added, and she sees the event as an opportunity to fulfill children's Christmas wishes. "Why not give back," she asked.
This is Andrew Zeutzius' second year as Santa, but it is the first year since the beginning of the pandemic that children are actually able to sit on his lap for a photo. "It makes the kids' holiday much better," he said.
Volunteering as Santa was "a bucket-list thing" for Zeutzius. Brittani Roane of the chamber of commerce recruited him for the role because of his full, white beard. Children can tell the difference between a real beard and a fake one, he explained.
Many kids remembered him from last year's Christmas party, when community members filed through the Legion one family at a time and children received their gifts from Santa at a distance of six feet amid COVID-19 safety protocols.
Interacting with the kids is his favorite part of the job. "It's so fun seeing their reactions," he said. "It just makes their day."
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