To the Editor,
As we all know, Covid-19 put a damper on many things this year. At Southampton Road Elementary School, we were struggling with providing fun family nights while maintaining safety. After having to cancel so many in-house events, our hearts were aching at the thought of skipping our annual Cookies and Cocoa with Santa; a night that brings joy throughout the halls of SRS as families gather and celebrate the magic of the holiday.
The PTO had an idea to put on a Holiday Drive Thru to see Santa but it was not within our budget and required some man power that we just didn’t have. Westfield Gas + Electric was ready and willing to help! They sponsored our Drive Thru and we can’t thank them enough. The event was scheduled for Friday, December 18th, the day after we were notified that students would not be returning to Hybrid learning. Children, teachers and families were all heartbroken upon hearing the news. Luckily, we were able to continue with our event because it was outside of school, but we weren’t sure of how the turn out would be. Much to our surprise, the cars never stopped! Everyone was looking for some holiday cheer! At check in, I had the pleasure, along with fellow PTO moms, of asking cars to turn their interior lights on so the teachers could see inside the cars. The excited squeals and beaming smiles that took over the children’s faces as they heard teachers were up ahead was priceless!
Lights strung from trees, dancing polar bears and penguins, Elf, and a variety of Holiday Blow Ups lined the path to the teachers, Santa and Mrs. Claus. All of whom were standing by the most beautiful lit tree I’ve ever seen! If you had the pleasure of driving by SRS throughout December, you know just what I’m talking about! We have been calling Kevin, the WG+E lineman who strung the lights, ‘THE light guy’ ever since. He not only strung them perfectly – but he went out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed and put in so much extra time to make the drive-thru special for our families. He really embodied what WG+E stands for in our community – not only helping, but always going the extra mile. Your time and energy was appreciated by so many Kevin – THANK YOU!!
I often say ‘Westfield is the best field’ for the great sense of community, whether its city wide events, school pride or within organizations and neighborhoods. Westfield Gas + Electric is always going above and beyond to help all of those – A true connectivity source for Westfield! You kept the magic of the holidays alive for us during the most uncertain of times. So from the bottom of our hearts, and on behalf of the Southampton Road PTO – THANK YOU Westfield Gas + Electric!
Kaitlyn Bruce
Westfield
