shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
For the second time in as many years, Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) fixed a warm breakfast for the community in the form of buttermilk pancakes, crisp bacon and sausage, sweet lemonade and other sweets.
Over a four-hour period on December 10, over two dozen families and their children enjoyed fellowship in the church and interacted with Santa Claus.
“Today we are sponsoring a pancake breakfast for the second straight year. This was made by the kids and put on for the community,” OLPH member Melissa Yates said. “This is a great opportunity to fellowship with each other.”
All eyes were on Santa Claus when he entered the room.
“The suit was a little hot but I didn’t mind wearing it at all. I’m friends with everybody here,” Paul Paradzinski said. “One little girl told me that she wanted a remote-control dump truck and I thought that was pretty neat. A few kids told me all they wanted for Christmas was world peace and to end world hunger. I asked each of the kids do they know the meaning of Christmas and one kid made a birthday cake for Jesus. I told them all to give a hug to their mom and dad every day.”
Glenvar High School freshman Meghan Thomas summed up why she loves being a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help: “It’s great for the kids. They get a great meal and a chance to take a picture with Santa without having to wait in long lines”. Emily Hemphill, like Meghan, is also an OLPH member. “It’s really cool to be able to do this with a bunch of my friends. It’s also nice to be able do this for our awesome church community,” the Roanoke Catholic freshman said. Barring anything unforeseen, “Breakfast with Santa” is expected to return to Our Lady of Perpetual Help next December.
