LETTER: Scherz thanks volunteers, attendees of ninth annual holiday party
Many heartfelt thanks to everyone (volunteers and attendees) who helped make my ninth annual holiday party for town of Verona residents Dec. 2 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 at fritzscherz.com
Thanks to the following people for taking part in the programmatic portion of the event: Bingo and Dingo The Clowns for face-painting; Safety Pup (from Madison County Sheriff’s Office); 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; Courtney Jones and Remi Link of Cornell Cooperative Extension for make-and-take activities; Sara Ouellette (Agriculture Educator/FFA Advisor), Rachel Champney (Secretary) and Molly Adams (Reporter) of VVS FFA; the following Christmas story readers: Honorable Ken Blankenbush (New York State Assemblyman), Honorable Craig Wing (State Police Captain), and Honorable Rob Maciol (Oneida County Sheriff);Santa Claus for giving gifts to the children; Spencer Walker for performing songs on his guitar; Elena Bartlett, Emma Cronizer, Bella Miller, Jolainna Sciorilli, and Ciara Ward for singing songs together; Drew and Josh Allen forsinging songs together; and The Sisters of Arendele (Ayden Moynihan and Haylee Smith) sponsored by Kids Oneida for storytelling and photo opps.
Thanks to the following people for helping in a variety ofways: Jay Aiello, Glenda and Steve Bartlett, Gary Bissaillon, Steven Bulger,Jacqueline Cole, Beth and Dave Coombs, Katherine DeJesus, Andrew Derminio, Rachel Dunne, Frank Elias, Martha Group, Todd Hood, Jeff Hull, Dan Hunt, Mike andNoah Jaquays, Bill Keeler, Rocco LaDuca, Andy Maurer, Mary Beth McEwen, JeffMonaski, Mark Nell, Josh Paul, Linda Scherz, Craig Semans, GarySpears, Margaret Visalli, Tami Whooten, Diana Wilson, and Mary Margaret Zehr.
Thanks to the following businesses and/or organizations for donating baked goods and/or gifts or simply helping out: 4-H; Circle K, Colgate University Football, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Dunkin’ Donuts (Verona), Kids Oneida, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida Indian Nation SavOn, Price Chopper (Oneida), Recovery Sports Grill, Staples (New Hartford), 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 via a parade. Thanks to Verona Fire Department as well as the New York State Police and Oneida County Sheriff’s Office for taking 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. Thanks, too, to anyone I might’ve missed who played a role in the success of this event.
In closing, the bottom line is that so many 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, Verona Town Councilor, President – Oneida County Association of Towns, Verona