ANNA MARIA – It was a winter wonderland for around 70 children and their parents at the Sandbar restaurant on Wednesday at the Lawton Chiles Christmas for Kids Party.
Sandbar owner Ed Chiles, son of the late Florida governor, was there with his wife, Tina, daughter, Ashley, and a host of volunteers plus DJ Chuck Caudill with a bagful of Christmas
music. The children were members of RMCA, a non-profit agency that provides care and education to migrant children, and Head Start Rise and Shine Early Education Program.
As the kids came into the pavilion with their parents, Ed Chiles remembered when he promised to carry on his father’s tradition almost 20 years ago.
“I was proud when my employees voted to name it after dad,” he said. “It never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit.”
After the families got seated, the kids got up to explore. There were bounce houses on the beach. The morning’s fog made them look eerie. There was an inflatable pirate’s ship with an inflatable parrot on a mast. There was face painting, and holiday crafts featuring cartoon characters.
The children surrounded Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Dora the Explorer and Woody from Toy Story. They posed for pictures and gave the characters hugs. Then lunch was served with
chicken fingers, French fries, mac and cheese, salad, fruit and more.
After that, the kids were told Santa was nearby and they moved to the parking lot. Suddenly, a siren sounded, and a West Manatee Fire Rescue truck pulled up, and Santa waved and stepped down.
He was immediately surrounded by kids. Santa moved through the pavilion to a structure on the beach with a chair and packages. Staff from the Sandbar and the two guest agencies got the packages to Santa to distribute.
“I want to thank my staff, the volunteers and everyone who made this possible for these many years,” Chiles said. “They help keep the spirit alive.”
