DECEMBER 27, 2023 www.wintertexantimes.com 12 WINTER TEXAN TIMES Call Today For Your Free Estimate Call Mark Anytime At 956-357-1048 WE WANT TO BUY YOUR TRUCK•CAR•SUV•VAN RVTRAVELTRAILER•5THWHEEL•MOTORHOME•BUS CARGO OR FLATBEDTRAILER•ATV•MOTORCYCLE•BOAT MINI-MOTOR HOME•CAMPERVAN•TOYHAULER •GOLF CART WE WANT TO BUY YOUR RV TRIPP From pg. 1 group of Winter Texans fromAlamo Rec-Veh Park and Alamo Palms RV Resort. Its Beginnings Organized after Thanksgiving three years ago, the party’s first timeline allowed the Elks and Winter Texans only a few weeks to buy gifts, plan a lunch, decide on activities, and invite children. “It did get done,” District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler Milly Hernandez said. “I told Tripp it would.” She said that it wasn’t as grandiose as he had envisioned, but that it was a beginning. And she felt Tripp appreciated their efforts. Tripp didn’t survive to see the second party, but in his memory, Milly named the event: “Tripp’s Christmas Village.” Its Third Celebration This year was even better than last year, according to Milly, who promised Tripp this event would not only happen, but would continue to grow. “If you saw the laughter, the cheer, the chaos at this year’s party -- that’s what Tripp liked,” she said. “We felt he was with us. And we knew that he was so happy that we were all here [doing what he wanted us to do] …” Its Challenges Behind the scenes, there were rather large challenges. The Elks needed at least $5,000 to cover the party’s lunch, gift buying and planned activities. But quite a bit of the funding wasn’t there. The non-profit Elks Lodge had spent much of their funds preparing Thanksgiving dinner packages for disadvantaged families. That meant Milly and the Lodge’s Exalted Ruler [ER] Tino Ordaz had to become resourceful. To meet their unmet needs, they decided to reach out to Elks who had been members for decades. “They not only contributed, but they chose to be part of the party,” she said. After securing the funding, the organizers faced another daunting challenge -- to make this party bigger than ever. Tino said he was looking for a bounce house to add something very special to the event when an Elk member told him she found someone who had an impressive train. Once the train was secured for the event, Tino decided to order a machine to make artificial snow, which he felt would e n h a n c e the outdoor scene. Indoor Excitement As children arrived at the “Christmas Village” this year, they were escorted to see Santa and to have their photos taken with him. Meanwhile, several adult elves stayed busy delivering age-appropriate gift bags to Santa for each child. A total of 160 toy bags had been filled by more than a dozen Winter Texans a few nights before the Saturday party. Those large-sized, green bags imprinted with “Joy” were loaded with games, blankets, crayons and coloring books, pencils, socks, crocheted hats, scrunchies, candy, stuffed animals and p l u s h i e s , with each item appropriate for the child’s age and gender. Behind the Gift Buying In charge of securing most of the gift buying for the bags was Winter Texan Colleen Benoit. She said it took her two movies – “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas” -- to order everything online between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. She said she got it
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