Submitted by the Bedford Community Santa Program
The 2023 Bedford Community Santa Claus Project completed its 78th year with 19 teams of volunteers visiting 272 homes and delivered in excess of 900 gifts.
Volunteers for 2023 include:
Claire Anderson, Cole Badzey, Sandy Baker, Tom and Eli Barkovic and Pat Wardwell, Tim, Elizabeth and Victoria Barry, Frank Baudanza, Terri Bradford, Dan, James and Oren Brosgol, Russell, November and James Bryan, Mark Buccolo, Kristen and Laura Bullock, Allan Coady, Rachel Condon, Linda Conrad, Andrea Couvee, Doug Dalrymple, David Dalrymple, Jennifer Dalrymple, Stuart, Hayden and Gavyn Davies, Larry Davis, Helen DeAndrade, Peter and Jeremy Dion, Shirley Fan-Chan, Rita Fardy, Shayla Fedele, Matt Forman, Leslie Gabriel, Chris Greaney, Marina Greaney, Lorraine Griecci, Renee Coleman Guidaboni, Raelene and Quinn Hauck, Sean Heffernan, Dave, Francine and Dan Hennessey, Gene and Mary Kalb, Dee, Jim and Eric Larson, Chris Lipson, Kristin Marcus, Molly McCarthy, Lucy McGovern, Linda McGrath, Jim McMahan, TJ Mead, Summer Moreira, Goose Morrow, Luke Noble, Ron, Lori Ann, Emmet and Adam O’Brien, Zach Parker, Jim Paton, Bill Penwarden, Julie, Mike and Devon Porter, Paul, Barbara and Elyse Purchia, Peter Ricci, Ed Rogalski, Ken and Emily Scheyder, Kathy Schnitger, Paolo Sepe, Susan Sepe, Richard and Tom Spaulding, Christine Smith, Kathy Stanick, Jenny Stewart, Andrew Sullivan, Martha Sullivan, Maureen Sullivan, Virginia Tang, Maria, Ella and Nicholas Tatarczuk, Beth Taylor, John, Nancy and Michael Thorsen, Bennett Todd, David Todd, Claire Toupin, Lori, Brian and Richie Vitale, Amy and Ryan Wallace, Judy Watkins, Andy Webber, Linda White, Peggy Whiteley, Chester, Jessica Wiggins and Christine Davis-Wiggins.
Apologies for any volunteers that were inadvertently missed or the name is misspelled.
Appreciation is due to our dedicated program shoppers/gifters: Sheena Santos, Susan Sepe, Allison and Nick Melahouris, Jenny Hollman, Kristin Sladen and Jenny Stewart.
Thank you to everyone in the Bedford community and beyond who donated to and promoted the gift card drive for families in need. A special thanks to Chief John Fisher and the Bedford Police Department for hosting a drop box, promoting and participating in the gift card drive, and to Bedford Youth and Family Services for their tireless work identifying and supporting families in our community.
Christine Smith handled supplies/costumes for volunteers on Christmas Eve. Claire Toupin headed the make up and Santa preparation team that included Linda Conrad, Bobbie Ennis, Caroline and Shayla Fedele, Renee Coleman Guidaboni and Nancy Thorsen. Lorraine Griecci handled the new family notifications introducing folks new to Bedford about the program.
Special thanks to long-time volunteer Eric Larson, who traveled to Bedford to assist with check-in, mentorship, training, and a pre-departure pep talk for teams on Christmas Eve.
Jenny Stewart handled her many varied roles of social media coordinator, web site design, registration form creation, registrar, database maintainer and the new volunteer identification google document.
David Dalrymple handled team recruitment, route consolidation, changes, statistics and general logistics. Bobbie Ennis and Caroline Fedele spearheaded the Gift Drop Day effort.
A big thank you to Pam Brown who is leading the effort to set up non-profit status. It is appreciated.
Thank you to Boy Scout Troop 194 for providing set up labor and transportation on Gift Drop Day and clean up day.
Doug Dalrymple, Zach Parker, Ed Rogalski and David Dalrymple provided Christmas Eve set up. Zach Parker, Douglas and David Dalrymple and Dee and Jim Larson handled Christmas Eve check in and clean up. The Middle School was quiet by 8:15 p.m. The last team returned at 8:04 p.m.
Christine Smith, Russell, November and James Bryan, Chris Lipson, Ken and Emily Scheyder, David and Bennett Todd, Luke Noble, Allan Coady, and David Dalrymple handled clean up day putting all the elements away for another year.
A special shout out to Lapels which handles the cleaning and storage needs for the Santa suits and accessories. They have been very accommodating to the program’s needs. Wigs and beards have been carefully cleaned and styled by Anthony Terrasi for many years. Our grateful thanks to him.
Special thanks to Cliff and Carol Washer for providing storage for the program materials and access to it on short notice. Thank you to the School Department and the Town of Bedford for the use of the John Glenn Middle School. Appreciation to Principal Jonathan Hartunian and Administrative Assistant Yvonne Cormier who were very helpful in the planning phase and also in making the use of the Middle School not impact other uses of the building. Marcia Pyles of Facilities arranged for the equipment needs on very short notice and her efforts are appreciated.
We are very grateful for the time, flexibility and helpfulness of the custodial staff: Andrew Pasciuto, Angel Vega, Peter Lazarus and Brian Sheehan. They handled all of our requests promptly and cheerfully. We can’t do it without these behind-the-scenes workers who make it possible.
Thank you to the volunteers that offered their time and the program wasn’t able to take advantage of their kindness due to mismatch of volunteers and the work to be done this year. Please volunteer next year!
The Bedford Community Santa Program committee includes Lorraine Griecci, Bobbie Ennis, Caroline Fedele, Paolo Sepe, Susan Sepe, Jenny Stewart, Christine Smith, and David Dalrymple.
For more information on the program, please see the Bedford Santa website https://bedfordsanta.com/ and Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/BedfordSanta.
Tax deductible donations to The Bedford Community Santa Program can be made online at https://bedfordsanta.com/donate.
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