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VOCELLAGRAPHIC.COM
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Culture
Williston’s Giving Trees program helping local families BY FALON JUSTICE Christmas cheer and goodwill towards all is one of the best parts of the holiday season. Williston is a community unlike any other, and the most significant part of that is the giving hearts found here. People in a community must “be the good” and be willing to make good things happen and do the work to make the change. Rachel Linn believes in a similar mindset and has started a program in Williston that has had an incredible impact on many: Williston’s Giving Tree program. “In 2021, we couldn’t find any Angel Trees ( Salvation Army) and I wanted my daughter to purchase gifts for others and Thrivent backed me up,” said Linn on what prompted her to begin Giving Trees. The Angel Tree program was created by The Salvation Army in 1979 to provide clothing and toys for children during the Christmas season. The program got its name from the idea of putting the wishes of local children on Hallmark greeting cards featuring pictures of angels and placing
them on a Christmas Tree at the mall. Since then, the program has grown to include Angel Trees nationwide. Contributors remove one or more tags from the tree and purchase gifts for the child or children de-
BY ELIZABETH ANDERSON, SUBMITTED BY ERICA KINGSTON, HER GRANDDAUGHTER
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he anticipation of the Christmas season arrived early in the first and second grade rooms in the two story brick building which housed the Turtle Lake Public School. Three weeks before Christmas vacation the 26 pupils were busy making colorful daisy chains from construction paper to decorate their room. A small Christmas tree bought by the teacher, Miss Peterson, stood in the corner. Silver tinsel adorned each branch and a home-made star was fastened to the top. I recall that several years later my name was drawn to be the winner of the tree in the third and fourth grade room. I proudly carried it home after our Christmas party. That was the first Christmas tree we had in our home. The knowledge of the forthcoming surprises, that first Christmas in school, thrilled my very soul. There would be ice cream, cake, a visit from Santa Claus and gifts. We could spend 10¢ for a gift for the name we drew. I never believed in a real Santa. I don’t remember what gift I got that year, but it was mine! I do remember a gift I got several years later: I drew Mildred Bergo’s name and she drew mine. We went shopping together at Andergard’s store and we decided that we would buy each other a drum-shaped bank. Why we wanted a bank when we didn’t have
a penny to put in it remains a mystery. When I was in the fifth grade I had the thrill of a lifetime. My teacher, Miss Richardson, drew my name. Her gift to me was a one pound box of chocolate covered cherries. I was in heaven! Never in a thousand years would I even dream of owning a whole box of candy. I took it home, told no one, hid it behind mom’s wardrobe and didn’t share it with anyone. (Speaking to her own children:) Now you kids know why it was so important to me to have a box of chocolate covered cherries in the house during Christmas — even though you kids never cared much for them. My memories of my first Christmas in school are few but precious. I was six years old. Elizabeth (Betty) Schlichenmayer was born in 1923 and grew up in Turtle Lake, N.D. with her parents and nine siblings. She taught in a rural schoolhouse near Gackle, N.D. where she met and married Jalmer Anderson and together had eight children, 21 grandchildren and many great grandchildren (four of which now reside in Williston.) Betty died in 2013 but left many writings of her life and experiences to her family. The following is her recollection of the Christmas of 1929 at the Turtle Lake public school as a six-year-old girl.
scribed on the tags. Williston’s Giving Trees has helped many struggling families who need help during the holiday season. The program is not just for small kids, as older children can
also benefit from it too. The program starts its registration and nomination process in the middle of October and makes tags available during the Thanksgiving week. Linn and her team purchase gifts for all remaining tags, mainly by donation. The most requested items this year are LED Lights for teens and Paw Patrol items for little kids. The program is usually pretty successful and Linn’s favorite part is seeing the joy on the parents’ faces when they receive the gifts. In 2021, Giving Trees had 165-170 kids; in 2022, they had 700 kids; in 2023, they had 369 kids nominated. The most successful locations for Giving Trees have been the Agri Sports Complex and Walt’s Market. Although it has been a tough year for many families, the community has rallied together to help ensure every single tag is filled. There were 130 tags taken but not fulfilled, but through the community’s support, they could help every child in need. The act of giving is the reward in itself.
