For many parents in Sonoma Valley, it probably boggles the mind not to be able to afford gifts for your kids during the holidays. The thought of minimal loot under the tree following Santa’s big night – especially in a society that glorifies a bounty of booty for two months prior – is one of those things that, when one’s parental mind begins to drift in that direction, you pull back, not wanting to even “go down that road.”
That’s the road that leads to this thought: School starts up after New Year’s, and every kid in class is talking about his new Nerf-shoot-em-up gun-thingy or her Cassatt-in-the-making stand-alone easel with oil-based glitter pens – while your kid listens quietly, wondering why after a year of relative goodness, jolly ol’ White Beard stiffed him again.
Which is why events like the Sonoma Raceway’s “Race to the Holidays” shindig are so important – the 10th annual holiday party and lunch took place Saturday, Dec. 13, and it put a Yuletide smile on the face of more than 400 kids and their families and, best of all (if you’re a kid), gave St. Nick an opportunity to present each child their own bag of toys – and no doubt a sense of relief to their struggling parents.
Joanne and I are fortunate to have been gainfully employed since pumping out our first of three hungry mouths 12 years ago (not a sure thing in the journalism field these days), but we still dodged a toyless-Christmas bullet a while back.
It was 2009, and we’d cleverly hid the Christmas presents for Jack, 7, and Sam, 2, in the one place they’d never look: the trunk of my decrepit old Saturn. Well, Saturns are nearly impossible for prepubescents to break into; not so much for car thieves. So I stepped out from work one late December evening to the park ‘n’ ride to find myself in the “first stage” of experience for those who have been grand-theft-autoed, otherwise known as, “Hmm … could’ve sworn I’d parked it right here.”
A quickie police report and a few days later, and our car was reported stripped and abandoned on a back street in Alameda. When picking it up at the tow yard, our glimmer of hope that the thieves had spared the presents were quickly dashed. However, they did leave a woman’s red G-string strewn across the steering wheel which, while certainly crass, did earn them some points for originality.
We were in the “only-three-more-shopping-days-to-X-mas” arena by that time, and we had to scramble to get what was left on the shelves in time for the Christmas morning melee.
Not everyone’s circumstances are so easily remedied when facing the prospects of disappointed little faces during the holidays. Events like “Race to the Holidays” make sure there’s as few of those going around as possible.
The event, in its 10th year, receives support from a plethora of local businesses and agencies (too many to list here) and furthers the good work of such places as Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley; Friends in Sonoma Helping; La Luz Center; Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance; and the WillMar Family Grief and Healing Center.
But perhaps Sonoma 6-year-old Oliver Toral summed the day up best.
“I was really excited to come today,” said Oliver. “I really wanted a Transformer and I got a Transformer.
“It was awesome.”
The post Editorial: Have an ‘awesome’ X-mas appeared first on Sonoma News.
