To the Editor:
(Town of Verona, NY – Dec. 2015) Many heartfelt thanks to everyone (volunteers and attendees) that helped make my 6th Annual Holiday Party for Town of Verona residents on December 13th a huge success! Fabulous volunteers worked together to make this event happen and festive attendees shared the Christmas holiday spirit. Some pictures from this event can be found on my website: www.fritzscherz.com
Thanks to the following people for taking part in the programmatic portion of the event (listed in order of appearance): Mike Jaquays (Bingo the Clown) for face painting; Trooper Eric Knapp and K9 Scotty (both from the New York State Police) for interacting with the attendees and showing some of K9 Scotty’s abilities; 4-H; Eat Smart New York; the following Christmas story readers: Honorable Rob Maciol (Oneida County Sheriff) and Honorable Ken Blankenbush (New York State Assemblyman); Honorable Joe Griffo (New York State Senator) for introducing Santa Claus; Santa Claus for giving gifts to the children; Elena Bartlett and Emma Sanford for their dance routine; Josh Allen for singing Christmas songs; Zach Williams for playing Christmas music on his cello; Matt Episcopo (of Matt Episcopo Comedy & Magic) for the family – oriented magic show.
Thanks to the following people for helping in a variety of ways: Rich Adams & Family, Jay Aiello, Ann Ammann, Kristine Bellino, Sean Brown, Jennifer & Megan Centore, Jacqueline Cole, Dave Coombs, Deputy Nick Dean, Andrew Derminio, Rachel Dunne, Frank Elias, Todd Emanuelli, Chuck Fougnier, Martha Group, Ron Henry, Jeff Hull, Bill Keeler, Mark Kinne, Samantha LaMarca, Kim LeBlanc, Jeff Monaski, Scott Musacchio, Roberta Parkhurst, Shirley Posman, Howard Regner, Linda Scherz-Allen, Ron Spadafora, Tami Whooten, and a few anonymous volunteers.
Thanks to the following businesses and/or organizations for donating baked goods and/or gifts or simply helping out: Dunkin’ Donuts (Verona), New York State Police, Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida Indian Nation SavOn, Price Chopper (Oneida), Recovery Sports Grill, Utica Coffee, Walmart (Oneida) and the media that helped publicize the Holiday Party.
Thanks to the Verona Fire Department for providing the venue for the Holiday Party and for helping make Santa’s arrival special. Thanks to Ron Winn for coming up with the idea for the parade and for coordinating it. Thanks to all the fire departments that took part in the parade, too. Special thanks to my wife, Kathy, and our children, Katherine, Marissa, and Freddy for being so supportive, encouraging, and helpful during the weeks leading up to the Holiday Party and during the event itself.
In closing, the bottom line is that so people worked together to make this event happen. It is people like you that make a community great! I am so honored to call these great people my friends and Verona my hometown! Thank you!!! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!!
Fritz Scherz
Councilman, Verona Town Board
President, Oneida County Association of Towns