December 20, 2010 | Westminster, Vermont – It is the most wonderful time of the year. The holiday season begins with the children choosing trees for their cottages and the school at Christmas Trees of Vermont in Springfield. A time–honored tradition, the youngest boys and girls celebrate Christmas with the students at Vermont Academy. They also write letters to Santa and mail them at a very special mailbox for the North Pole. The entire campus is lit up with decorations and heightened enthusiasm.
While singing carols, Santa, Mrs. Claus and their elves along with Mr. Grinch, go from cottage to cottage with a present for each child. This is another much loved tradition thanks to the members of the Chester Rotary Club.
Children singing at Kurn Hattin Homes’ Christmas Visitors’ Day
Always an anticipated event, Kurn Hattin’s Annual Christmas Visitors’ Day starts with a special holiday luncheon followed by a joyous concert. The jazz band, comprised of children and dedicated adult volunteers, perform the season’s best holiday and contemporary rhythms. And then there is nothing more heartwarming than hearing children sing. Children really do make the holiday season great.
With all the generous donations during the holidays and throughout the year, the children focus on giving. Night of Giving is a Kurn Hattin tradition in which a representative from each cottage presents his/her Christmas giving project. The children raise funds to donate as a way to give back for all their good fortune. Their support helped those in need in various ways including money raised and given to a Congo relief organization, homemade applesauce made by the youngest girls at Hubbard Cottage and given to Our Place, the local food shelf, and volunteering at Thompson House in Brattleboro. Your generosity to Kurn Hattin helps teach them to be generous.
The finale to the holiday celebrations is Family Day. Parents and family members enjoy a special lunch and holiday concert before the holiday break.
Santa is always good to the children. They are very deserving. Kurn Hattin wishes everyone a happy and peaceful holiday season. Thank you for your generosity throughout the year. Kurn Hattin Homes is a year-round, charitable home and school for in-need and at-risk boys and girls, ages 6-15, from throughout the northeast.