Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By CHARITY SMITH
csmith@yourdailyglobe.com
Bessemer — Santa, Mrs. Claus, and several of their elves made an appearance at the Bessemer VFW Post 3673 on Saturday afternoon to hand out gifts to children for the VFW’s second annual Santa drive-thru event.
“It went well,” said Donna Frello, post commander. “We distributed 150 gift bags.”
Parents drove through the VFW parking lot and were given a gift bag for each child in the car. The gift bags contained a craft kit, cookies, candy, a Christmas plush toy and other holiday goodies.
This was the second year the VFW has held a Santa drive-thru event because of the ongoing pandemic.
The event replaced the VFW’s annual community Christmas party which usually has a free lunch, Christmas cookies, sleigh-rides, caroling, crafts, reading Christmas stories and a visit from Santa.
“Prior to the global pandemic, the VFW hosted community Christmas parties inside the hall. These events often got a bit crowded,” Frello said. With safety in mind, organizers decided to hold a shorter event outside.
“We are very hopeful that we will be able to resume as usual next year,” Frello said.