HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Families flocked to Jeffers Bend Environmental Center on Saturday, Dec. 7 for the 12th Annual Christmas at the Bend celebration. Manned entirely by volunteers from Jeffers Bend and Pennyrile Resource Conservation and Development Area Council, visitors were treated to homemade cookies, hot apple cider and hot chocolate along with an afternoon of learning with crafts.
Kids played games for Christmas prizes and listened to Mrs. Claus read Christmas stories while they enjoying the homemade treats provided by the long-time volunteers. Afterwards, they made homemade Christmas cards that will be distributed to the nursing homes around Christian County.
Shy Wallace said her daughter Shyla woke up early, already excited for the day’s festivities. The family has been coming to the event for the last four years and Shyla fell in love with it while she was in Girl Scouts. Along with making winter bird feeders from pinecones, lard and various nuts that participants could take home, families also made their own tree ornaments, using small pine sprigs and from recycled toilet paper tubes.
Shannon Suttle, who brought her grandchildren, Scarlet and Charlie Riley, said they are regular visitors to all the Jeffers Bend events, but this is the most anticipated one. “The kids love the events. It got the kids involved in the birds at their own home, too. They love taking the feeders home,” she told Christian County Now.
The biggest draw of the event is Santa Claus himself. Stopping over at what he considers North Pole South. This 20-year veteran Santa says the calling the most wonderful job in the world, “Children will tell you things and you have to listen really well. It’s not all sugar plums and you have to care. It is a gift to be Santa.”
Kids had their pictures taken with Santa and then selected their own magnetic frames to decorate so they could take the magic moment home and hang it on their fridge. The excited, happy voices working on their crafts and frames, along with the many bright smiles, were clear signs of a wonderful afternoon filled with Christmas cheer.