Seniors served by St. Paul Regional FCSS and Family Support Network were treated to their annual Christmas luncheon last Wednesday.
The FCSS hosts Santa’s Seniors Festival in St. Paul every year. The event used to be held in a different location in the region each year, but two years ago organizers and participants agreed that having one central venue offered the best opportunity to serve more people.
Two hundred fifty people filled the seats at All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church hall for the meal. FCSS director Brenda Billo gave updates on programming, author and publisher Dawn L. Snyder offered tips on writing and storytelling, and Primary Care Network dietician Heather Wood spoke about healthy eating through the Christmas season.
All Saints Church catered the turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and students from Racette School helped with tables and chairs and served coffee and tea.
Seniors-serving organizations had booths where they offered information and answered people’s questions.
“This event is extremely important because seniors are the core of our community. They started it, they continue to grow it, they put value to it,” Billo said.
“This year’s theme of stories was really important because they’re aging out, and if they don’t continue to tell their stories, we’re not going to know where we came from.”
Billo said Wood’s presentation complemented Snyder’s to present a timely message. “Especially during the holiday season we spend lots of time with family, we’re eating and we’re telling stories. So why not combine the two together and just remind everybody to eat well so you can continue to live on and be healthy and tell those stories as well?” she said.
The FCSS announces the festival every year as soon as they have concluded their Halloween activity. Billo said this year it was completely booked within hours.
“It’s definitely an event that people want to come to, and wait for it yearly,” she said. “We’re really proud of that and we’ll continue it as long as we can. It’s a great way to kick off the season.”
