By Scott D. Johnston
For Twin Harbors Newspaper Group
The Kiwanis North Beach Kids Christmas Party will take place at the Ocean Shores Convention Center on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. More than 400 kids ages 12 and under from the North Beach and Taholah school districts will share in gifts, holiday treats and Santa pictures between 1 and 4 p.m.
A separate Youth Christmas Party for North Beach School District students in grades 7 through 12 will take place Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ocean Shores Elks Lodge, 199 Ocean Lake Way.
Each child receives three gifts, and each has a chance to win one of about 120 premium gifts such as bicycles and giant stuffed animals. Refreshments are available to parents and kids, and Santa will be there to pose for photos with any child who wishes it.
The dual event is the culmination of a yearlong volunteer effort to obtain, store, wrap, transport and distribute hundreds of gifts. It has been spearheaded for many years by Donovan and Pat Scott, who retired to Ocean Shores 16 years ago.
About two dozen volunteers are involved in the effort at various times throughout the year, with most on hand in the days leading up to and during the actual event. The Elks host a huge gift-wrapping party.
The Scotts work on this project pretty much year-round, and one of their favorite parts of the whole experience happens a week or so after each event: buying new toys at 75 percent off in the days immediately after Christmas. They have devoted considerable storage space at their home to collect the cache of bargains.
During the two days it takes to move everything into the OS Convention Center, a human chain passes boxes, bags, bicycles and big bears to volunteer vehicles. The Scotts also receive loads of toys and clothes from several groups, including new bicycles from the Los Hombres Motorcycle Club.
Over the years, they have built a base of cash contributors that continues to grow — “a string of people that write checks, some for 10 or 20 dollars, some for hundreds,” said Pat.
Donovan said, “A man called me just last week who said he’d seen something about the Kids Party in the paper. He said he was new to town, liked the idea and wanted to help. About 20 minutes later, he was here with a $100 check.”
The event is conducted under the Kiwanis Club banner, which means all contributions of cash and merchandise are tax-deductible. Donations may be made with checks payable to Kiwanis Kids Christmas, P.O. Box 98, Ocean Shores, WA 98569. For more information, call Donovan or Pat Scott at 360-289-4608.
Scott D. Johnston | for Twin Harbors Newspaper Group From left, volunteers Don Ross and Bob Tinker help Donovan Scott inflate boxes of basketballs in preparation for the annual Kiwanis North Beach Kids Christmas Party.
