There are so many special days during the year in which our council and Holy Spirit parish come together to provide a memorable and rewarding experience for parishioners and their relatives and guests. One such occasion is Children’s Faith Formation’s “Breakfast with St. Nicholas,” which was held on Sunday, Dec. 10.
It’s a time in which “all out” is the best way to describe the combination of preparation and execution performed by the parish staff, under the direction of Deborah Pearson, and the council, led by church activities director Jim Stavinoha. An estimated 400 guests were served a breakfast that featured scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, tortillas, hash brown casserole plus biscuits and gravy. With the request to either bring a new, unwrapped toy or make a financial contribution, more than $960 was collected — topping last year’s total by $235 — along with about 350 toys. The donations will be presented to the Better Tomorrows shelters of Dallas County.
The Knights proved they can even go “two-deep” when it comes to providing the individual at the center of the event’s activities. Our Leo Mattingly has long been the council’s “go-to” St. Nick for years for obvious reasons. Leo was feeling under the weather going into the weekend, and Chris Edwards stepped forward to grab the mitre and patiently listen to each child’s Christmas wishes. “Glad to do it,” Chris said with a beaming smile from behind a beard that, while not yet in Leo’s category, did the trick for each enchanted youngster.
KC math was again on display with a request that went out for “about 10” Knights, resulting in about twice that number reporting to help — many well before the requested starting time of 6:30 a.m. Joining Jim and Chris were Ernest Alvarez Jr., John Espree, Elvis Fajardo (plus wife Thelma and daughters Ana-Isabel and Vanessa), Tony Gonzalez, Andy Goza, Gerald Jacob, Mario Mejia, Jeff Miller, Agustin Perez (plus wife Flora and daughter Joanna), Jesse Radillo, Jack Ramsden, Allen Reitmeier, Jim Richardson, Jorge Ruiz, Jim Russell and James Smith.
Jim Russell’s wife, Mary, again conducted an entertaining concert from her youth choir that included children of council members. Devin Buschow’s youth ministry provided numerous elves that added to the youngsters’ enjoyment.
All in all, it was another day to be proud to be a member of Council 8157 and of Holy Spirit parish.
“I’d like to say thank you to the tremendous outpouring of support from the KC’s on this event,” Deborah said afterward. “It’s amazing to see so many men cooking in a kitchen … lol. This event continues to grow every year and showcases what an outstanding parish community we have. I am truly honored to be a part of it.”
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