BRADENTON BEACH – Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge #2188 welcomed Rudolph, Santa and other guests to its annual children’s Christmas party Saturday morning.
Joined by parents and grandparents, more than 60 children gathered inside the Moose Lodge to celebrate the Christmas holiday. At about 10:30 a.m., Officer Eric Hill, of the Bradenton Beach Police Department, delivered Santa Claus to the lodge’s beachfront door. Santa then received a warm holiday welcome as he entered the lodge and greeted the awaiting youngsters.
One by one, each child was called by name to visit with Santa and receive from him and his Moose Lodge helpers a wrapped gift selected especially for that child’s age group.
Lodge Administrator Byron Dalton and Senior Regent Joy Shames shared their thoughts on the day’s festivities.
“This is one of the things we do every year for our kids and members. The Women of the Moose are doing a great job and everybody’s having fun. The kids have paper and crayons and are making Christmas cards to send to our seniors at Moosehaven,” Dalton said.
Moosehaven is a retirement community in Orange Park, Florida that has served Moose members since 1922.
“We are having a lot of fun with the children’s Christmas party here at the Moose Lodge. We’ve got Santa, Rudolph, the elves and Tommy the Moose here. The Women of the Moose put this together, along with the lodge. We’re happy to see so many kids. We have 62 kids signed up and we’re having a great day,” Shames said.
When Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer entered the room, the children and adults broke into an impromptu rendition of the famous Christmas song that tells Rudolph’s story.
New York residents Bridget and Michael Roorda spend a few months each year on Anna Maria Island and they brought their children, Amelia, William and MJ, to the Moose party.
“We’ve been coming for years. We’re almost snowbirds,” Michael said.
“We love it,” Bridget added.
Josh and Meredith Pridokas brought their daughter, Ellie, to the party.
“This is wonderful,” Meredith said.
“This is the first year Ellie is old enough to appreciate Santa and the decorating. She’s soaking it up,” Josh added.
Adult activities
Regarding some of the adult activities taking place at the lodge, Shames said, “Tonight, we have our ugly sweater contest for the adults.”
The proceeds from the ugly sweater contest went to the Women of the Moose charity.
Dalton said the Queen of Hearts jackpot is currently at about $30,000 and the next weekly drawing takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
“We’re about a third of the way through the deck,” Dalton said of the drawing that utilizes a deck of playing cards and eventually awards a cash jackpot to the lucky Moose member who draws the Queen of Hearts. Each week, one playing card is revealed and the longer it takes the find the Queen of Hearts, the larger the jackpot is. Some of the Queen of Hearts proceeds help fund the lodge’s numerous charitable efforts and activities.
