On December 6, Main street was filled with festive activities carrying on the local tradition of Christmas in Clinton, followed by the tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. Around 18 dedicated students from Morgan’s Interact club volunteered to help make this special day happen.
The planning began on October 15th, when Nicki Davis, who took over Christmas in Clinton and reached out to Ms. Shook from Interact club and asked for help. The first challenge Ms. Shook ran into was “getting students to volunteer and scheduling around their availability with the new sports season and other clubs,” said Ms. Shook. Despite the challenges, 18 Interact members stood up and dedicated their time to make the event run smoothly.
Interact students took on a variety of roles during Christmas in Clinton. Four students volunteered to be in charge of the bounce house, while another four volunteered to be Santa’s elves and helpers for pictures. Other club members also contributed to bake for the bake sale, while other volunteers helped sell the bake goods.
Austin Borkowski, a student participating explained, “I hope to make a lot of the kids happy and help all the families get into the Christmas spirit.” Borkowski shared that seeing all the families excited to meet Santa was “very nostalgic for me.”
Christmas in Clinton stands out as more than just a typical holiday event that has many sweet treats/food if visited, specifically at Salt Leaf, Cafe Nola, the firehouse, and the Town annex. In front of the Town Hall, Santa arrived at around 5:15 to take pictures after the tree lighting. At Pierson there was a bounce house, the Robotics club, project graduation, and Technology club.
The Tech club put on a robot competition for the youth of Clinton that was holiday themed. They won ornaments and candy canes for performing the task with the robotics led Mr. Distefano and Mr. Madura. This activity was in front of Pierson on the sidewalk.
Ms. Shook explained, “In some towns, it’s just one event like a tree lighting, but for Clinton, it’s more unique with different engaging activities.” Interact was also joined with React, Robotics, National Tech Honors society and the Class of 2029.
The most popular station was pictures with Santa, “there was a line out of the town hall for about 20-30 minutes just for a picture,” Borkowski stated. As for the turn-out, there were fewer people than previous years due to the fact it was moved from the usual Sunday to a Saturday to increase the number of participants.
The volunteers were a big help, organizing the bake sale, bouncy house, and Santa’s elves. “The Interact Students were very well behaved and very helpful with all of their required tasks,” Shook stated.
Christmas in Clinton is a true celebration made possible by the students and teachers of Interact. From planning activities to acting as Santa’s elves, these efforts contribute to the joy of families and create a welcoming atmosphere.
For the Interact students volunteering, “it is a good way to feel good about yourself and how you and your peers are helping the community,” said Borkowski.
