By: Kendra Slis
On the evening of Thursday, December 22nd, more creatures than just the Christmas mouse were stirring through the halls of Greater Johnstown High school as Key Club student members, helpful teachers, and joyful volunteers celebrated the very first “Trojan Family Christmas” event. The main hope of this event is to provide a memorable Christmas celebration for less fortunate elementary students residing in the district who otherwise would not have that opportunity.
Many organizations put their support behind the event including the GJHS Key Club, the GJSD Board of Directors, Representative Bryan Barbin’s Office, the City of Johnstown, the Johnstown Police Department, the Cambria County Child Development Corporation, Johnstown alumnus LaRod Stephens- Howling, Nutrition Inc, ACRP, the Sprangle Family Learning Center, 1st Summit Bank along with countless other helpful individuals. The success of the evening would not have been possible without the support of the prior listed.
The event kicked off around 4:30 as students arrived with their families out of the cold winter air and were welcomed by the JHS chorus singing Christmas carols and escorting them into the JHS auditorium where at the top of the hour Mr. Richard Unger and Bryan Barbin presented a brief welcoming address to all the families in attendance which was followed up by a dramatic reading of “The Night Before Christmas” performed by a talented group of high school students. The reading and performance was a great kickoff to the event and started it off in the true Christmas spirit.
At the conclusion of the performance the students and families in attendance were escorted to the JHS Cafeteria where they were greeted with the sweet and savory smell of a home cooked Christmas dinner with all the fixings provided by Nutrition Inc. Greater Johnstown Alumnus LaRod Stephens-Howling footed the bill for the feast and allowed all families and students in attendance to have a wonderful dinner at this festive holiday event.
With everyone’s stomachs full from an extravagant Key Club students kept the festivities going by assisting the elementary students in attendance with making various Christmas crafts such as reindeer food, holiday puppets, paper plate snowmen, and Christmas tree ornaments just to name a few. The Key Club members also read stories to the children, helped them write letters to Santa, and decorated sugar cookies for them to enjoy. Families were served refreshments and relaxed and socialized with each other to the merry and jolly tunes of holiday music in the background and with a festive atmosphere all around them.
As the evening began to wind down and the festivities were coming to come a close the biggest surprise of all arrived… Santa! All the children were given the opportunity to meet with Santa who gave them a special Christmas gift, provided by generous donations from supporters of the event. All in all, the first ever Trojan Family Christmas was an amazing success putting everyone in attendance in the Christmas spirit. As the families were sent on their way, each and every person left with a huge smile on their face and would make their way back home to their beds. And with the help of the first ever Trojan Family Christmas would surely have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.
