The Siuslaw news., December 26, 2018, WEDNESDAY EDITION, Page 8A, Image 8

8A | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Christmas Lists from page 1A
Throughout the bay, Christmas ta-
blecloths decorated half a dozen tables
for the families to sit at. Folding chairs
filled out the rest of the room, all facing
the Christmas tree.
“It took hours and hours, days and
days to wrap all of those,” an organiz-
er said, referring to the presents under
the tree. There were hundreds of them,
wrapped in various styles. The line of
presents stretched at least 40 feet and
was eight feet tall in sections.
A dedicated crew had been working
on wrapping the presents for the last
week. An entire team of people were
needed to set everything up that night
for the 39 kids in attendance, aged 12
to 18.
Twin Lakes’ program, started by Am-
brosio, is geared toward teenagers on
the economic fringes. Some had fall-
en on hard times, kids being raised by
grandparents. Others were hit by the
fiscal realities of rural life.
Ambrosio has the kids fill out Christ-
mas wish lists, which she hangs on a
tree at her store, Twin Lakes Market.
People throughout the community take
the lists and buy the gifts or donate
money for Ambrosio to buy the gifts.
This year, there was a particularly
strong windfall of community dona-
tions, allowing her to get the kids ev-
erything they needed.
“People from Florence came specifi-
cally to help out with money,” one vol-
unteer said. “We had checks, we had
cash. It was really awesome. We even
had kids come and donate cash that
were in the program. This thing is go-
ing to grow.”
The first two teenagers of the night
walked in with their family. They sat at
one of the tables and played UNO as
they chatted with the volunteers.
Just 10 minutes later, the room was
filled with over 100 people.
Promptly at 6, Ambrosio stood in
front of the crowd.
“I just want to say that people went
all-out crazy this year,” she said as the
crowd cheered. “The community real-
ly came together. I can’t tell you how
many people came into the store and
said, ‘Oh, I got carried away!’ … In the
future, I hope things will go good for
you guys, so you can do something like
this for your communities. One person
can make a difference, and don’t let
people tell you otherwise.”
JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
This year’s Twin Lakes Giving Tree provided not only presents donated by the community for area teens, but
boxes of food and socks hung on a mantle, filled with additional treats, at the Sutton Lake Fire Station.
Stockings were first, with the teens
grabbing their socks and taking them
back to their families. All sorts of can-
dies and mementos were pored over
as children began to laugh. It’s at that
point Ambrosio and her team started
yelling out the kid’s names.
“DO I HAVE A… (insert name)?”
The volunteers, arms full of bundles
of presents, wound their way through
the crowd to deliver packages to each
teen.
It’s at this point things got loud.
“OH
MY
GOD!!!!
BATTLE
ROYALE!” one kid yelled as he opened
a present, revealing a video game.
One boy stared at a long present that
was almost as tall as him. He tore of the
wrapping: A huge box of Stover’s Can-
dy. He looked like a deer in the head-
lights, smiling in awe.
“He was the most excited about the
food,” a family member explained,
looking at the plethora of toys that sur-
rounded the boys.
The calling of names continued.
“HEY!” the volunteered yelled.
“HEY!” the kids yelled back, laugh-
ing.
The volunteer called out another
name.
“THAT’S ME!” the kid said, spelling
out their name.
Each family had different rules set
in place. For some, it was an utter free
for all: Open everything. Others just
opened one present, leaving the rest for
Christmas morning.
“Oh my GOD!” one boy said as he
peered inside a box at a set of markers.
This was just moments after he had
opened an ornate set of pencils and
sketch books, which he screamed with
glee about. The markers seemed to be
the pinnacle of excitement. It’s at that
point parental control had to be exert-
ed.
“Now, understand that none of this
gets done in the bedroom, living room,
or any place that there’s carpet,” his fa-
ther said.
Unwrapping styles varied from kid to
kid. There were the careful ones, who
picked slowly at the tape, not wanting
to damage the wrapping. Others just
tore in with abandon. One enterpris-
ing teenager had the unwrapping game
down pat. They had a long rectangular
present in which they placed both of
their palms on, hard. With the flick of
their wrists, the wrapping came off in-
stantly.
One boy opened up a package, re-
vealing the 40-year-old electronic game
of Simon. He was confused.
“What is this?” he asked a family
member.
The woman knew the game well,
laughing.
“You have to remember the colors.
It’s a memory game, you’ll love it.”
Off in the corner, quietly, a mother
and her daughter unwrapped presents
while sitting side by side on the floor.
They laughed with each surprise and
talked about what the girl would do
with the presents. Amid the chaos that
surrounded them, it was if they were in
their own world. Almost every time the
daughter carefully unwrapped the pres-
ents, the mother looked at her daugh-
ter’s face and smiled softly.
“Oh Sh--!” one boy yelled as he
opened a package of sketch pencils.
“Oh, man, these are nice ones!” he ex-
claimed before saying he had to show
them off to his friends.
“This is probably going to be their
only Christmas,” one woman said,
looking on as her grandchildren were
talking with friends. Money was tight.
Their father, who couldn’t make it that
night, was studying to be an EMT.
“He’s going to be a fireman!” she
proudly said.
Many of the families began to pack
up for the night.
“Dude, we got so much stuff!” one
kid said. “No, literally, this is the biggest
Christmas I’ve had!”
Some of the kids had received back-
packs and began stuffing everything
they could into them: the candy from
the stocking stuffers, the smaller gifts.
“Do you have an extra bag?” one
woman asked. Her family had opted to
only open one present a piece, leaving
the others for Christmas morning. The
trash bags had already been used for
discarded wrapping paper. Someone
had a novel suggestion:
“They can wrap them up in a table
cloth. Like a Santa sack.”
The family put the presents in the
middle of the cloth, folded it up, and
tied it neatly.
As one family was leaving, a teenager
pulled his mother aside.
“Mom, I just want to say thank you
for being here with me. I love you,” he
said, embracing her. He was taller than
she was, her chin resting on his shoul-
der. She held him tight.
By 7 p.m., the station was nearly
empty. Tables were being folded up,
the room was almost bare. Firefighters
were sweeping the floors.
“Look at that,” Ambrosio said with a
sigh. “It happened that fast.”
She had just folded up an inflatable
Christmas tree, green with blinking
lights inside. It was one of the last of the
decorations, and it was as if the chaos
had never happened.
“I know, right?” Ambrosio agreed,
heading over to clean the snack table.
She pondered the night — the long
hours of work organizing, raising
funds, wrapping the pckages and deco-
rating the fire station. It was all worth it.
“We had one kid who asked for the
book ‘Don Quixote.’ The actual book.
Cool, right?” she said. “The person
who bought the book wanted to meet
the kid. So, I went to the kids and asked,
‘Who likes Don Quixote?’ Most of them
didn’t know what I was talking about.
One kid was, BOOM! ‘THAT’S ME, I
LOVE DON QUIXOTE!’”
She said that, on average, each teen-
ager received around 10 presents, in-
cluding the food box and stockings.
Some had close to 20. It just all de-
pended on what they asked for.
Some people who bought the kids
presents “got carried away,” she said.
Sometimes, people buy only a few
presents for the teen they select from
Twin Lakes. But this time, people
seemed to just want to buy every-
thing.
“They came back and said, ‘I just
wanted to give my kid more.’ That’s
what they called them — ‘My kid.’”
OF WESTERN LANE COUNTY
Creating the future of Florence,
together, this holiday season.
One child at a time.
What’s on your wish list this year? For our kids, it’s a Great Future.
You have the opportunity to positively infl uence and impact the youth
of Florence this holiday season by Giving the Gift of a Great Future.
Your gift is tax deductible, Tax ID 93-1236854.
Visit bgcwlc.org or contact Executive Director, Chuck Trent today
for more information on how to Give the Gift of a Great Future.
541-902-0304
PO Box 739, Florence, Oregon 97439