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Boulder Estates’ Winter Funderland promotes inter-generational reading

Photo by Jody Isaackson Yvonne Carson as Mrs. Claus read stories to children curing the Winter Funderland event held at Boulder Estates Saturday. Mrs. Claus is pictured reading The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to Oscar Swift, 2, of Russell. The event was designed to include reading as it was held in conjunction with United Way and their reading program

MARSHALL — Boulder Estates held a first-ever Winter Funderland event Saturday that combined intergenerational Christmas fun and reading.

Uncounted children visited with Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus, made crafts and decorated cookies as well as played games with Llama Llama and Santa’s elves, most of whom were tenants at Boulder Estates.

Tenant Don Klein was the first to point out that everything they did was under the direction of the idea-lady and activities director Jan Mason.

Mason, from Lynd, had just come on board earlier this year, but has put together a calendar of events that “perk up” the tenants, as tenant Sherry Johnson put it. Winter Funderland is just one of them.

Johnson was the Mission Control elf who manned the registration table in the mezzanine, handing out schedules and giving directions to the various stations that the tenants had put so much time into developing.

Santa Claus was the first stop. Claus was seated by the fire place in the mezzanine. At each side were gifts for the little visitors. He gave out a candy cane and an ABC coloring book to each child. The ABC coloring book was one of the connections to the reading theme of the day.

Behind Old St. Nick was the arts and crafts room where former kindergarten teacher Delores Manke helped little ones turn a brown paper sack into a reindeer.

“We try to fit everyone where their abilities and interests lie,” Mason said. “We’re trying to promote, not one, but two ideas today: Intergenerational activities and reading.”

Some of the children were bashful with so many Christmas characters running around, but some, like Oscar Swift, 2, of Russell, and Juliana Maas, 7, of Walnut Grove, were only too happy to share their crafts.

Down the hall, in another seating area, Mrs. Claus read to the children from such books as How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seiuss. Next to her was a gift shop where most items were less than a dollar.

“The tenants made the gifts in their arts and crafts classes and donated them for this event,” Mason said. “The gifts were marked 50 cents or 25 cents. The idea behind it was to provide affordable gifts for kids to give to their parents, siblings or friends.”

There was also a cookbook in the gift shop that tenants had put together. Proceeds from the sale of cookbooks would go to Hospice, Mason said.

In the main dining room were more games and activities geared toward children, including: Rock-Around the Christmas Tree game (like a cake walk), Pin the Nose on Frosty, Make Magical Reindeer Food, Winter Sensory Game (find balls in a tub of confetti), a Snowflake Game, Cookie Decorating and Cocoa, and playing hopscotch and other games with Llama Llama as he roamed the premises (another tie into the reading them). Llama Llama and his elfin friend, Sara Kicmal, were volunteers from United Way.

Winter Funderland was a way for Boulder Estate tenants to “Age out loud”, by doing intergenerational activities, which was their theme for 2017.

“It took a village, and the village came together so we could all have fun,” Mason said.

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