Jerome, Jackie, and Al Chirco enjoyed singing Christmas Carols together.

Alfonso Chirco of the Federazione Abruzzese del Michigan joined forces with a group of friends to kick off the Christmas season at St. Louis Center on December 2nd. This group of faithful friends has been hosting the “Christmas Spirit Lunch” at the Center for the past twenty or so years.

The Christmas party began with Mass in the Center’s chapel. The visitors prepared and served an amazing lunch including pasta, fresh Italian sausage from Cantoro’s Market, fresh baked rolls, and crispy salad.

Santa’s arrival in the gym was the moment each resident was waiting for. He distributed a gift each resident. The residents may have received the gifts, but the Italian visitors were blessed to be able to give from their time and treasure.

Santa Delivers

The St. Louis Center tradition is for the residents to wake up on Christmas morning and find their gifts from Santa under the tree.

This year they were in for a real surprise. When they went looking for their presents under the tree, nothing was there. They were only slightly disappointed. As it turns out, Santa waited until everyone awoke and he delivered the gifts to each house personally. He enjoyed help from a couple of elves to help carry the gifts.

Special thanks to Dan Burch, aka Santa, for organizing the surprise. Many thanks also to his son Matthew and son-in-law Brendan Hagan for being elves. This is truly a cherished memory for the residents.