Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

The view from Wendy's World: Looking back at this year's Nevada County toy drive

The Nevada County toy drive has become a local tradition. I guess it sort of surprised me that this community endeavor has grown so large. We made some changes this year and though Id considered that there might be some negatives, it worked well.

There were two very positive points of the drive. One came when we handed out toys, clothes and other gifts to parents and even - on a few occasions - to the kids.

The other came when we thanked those who contributed. There are simply too many for me to list everyone who made a donation of time, money or gifts, but there are a few that must be mentioned.

U.S. Congressman Mike Ross has been a strong supporter of the drive and this year was no exception. The local clubs - including the Prescott Lions Club, the Prescott Rotary Club and the Prescott Kiwanis Club - each donated cash, toys and time. For those who picked a child and bought for that child, thank you so much. For those who dropped off money, we couldnt have done the shopping and filled the remaining lists without you. Senator Percy Malone, Representative Dr. Johnnie Roebuck, Representative David Bubba Powers, the Ila Upchurch Corporation and Hines Trucking all donated money. Freds gave a discount for all the toys we purchased at the Prescott store. Without the assistance of all these donations, we would have been forced to stop with the first 100 children on our list. We actually presented gifts to more than 170 children.

The Friends of the Prescott-Nevada County Library provided books for almost every child.

As always, there were a few people who had my back through the entire event. Lisa Martin, office manager here at the Picayune, filled bags, shopped, organized, typed lists and filled in for me more times than I can count.

My daughter, Leslie Fite, pitched in when I would have just collapsed with exhaustion, spending many long evenings bagging toys and shopping. And when Firestone had agreed to help provide toys and food for distribution, Leslie went a step farther, inviting them to help distribute. They answered that call with gusto and were all waiting to pitch in as soon as we were ready to begin the distribution. Those who signed in as volunteers were Ray and Mary Oxley, Brad Shunk, Eugene and Terri Cooke, Eric Pate and Ivory Curry.

Rita Reyenga, Elaine Williams, Diana Avery, Tammy Oltmer, Melissa Beck, Holly and Sydney Ross and the three who headed up the food drive - Rita Shaw, Jackie Daniel and Clara Gulley - all helped distribute. Elaine, Clara and Lisa stuck with me to the bitter end when we hauled the unclaimed gifts back to the Picayune office. Lisa then helped track down everyone who had forgotten to pick up their packages and to deliver the remainder.

To Ron and Kelia Murphy and my husband Glen, I cant say thank you enough for being willing to drag yourselves out of bed before 6 a.m. on a Saturday to transport the toys to the distribution site, and for responding to my calls of help throughout the entire event.

There are others - many others - who put time and energy into this endeavor. Having just been drafted into the position as leader of this event, I wasnt prepared for what it entailed and would never have finished without each and every one of you.

From the Picayune, and on behalf of myself and Lisa, I hope that you all found the experience positive. I also hope that we can all remember that giving over the holiday season is wonderful, but that it should be something we work at all year long.