Anna Hurban Chicago District Welcomes St. Nicholas

Members and guests of the Anna Hurban Chicago District gathered on November 5th, 2023 for the annual Chicago District St. Nicholas party. This annual gathering kicks off the holiday season, and celebrates St. Nicholas, a very special Saint in the Slavic Christmas season.

Close to 100 members and guests enjoyed an afternoon filled with good food, activities and fraternal fellowship. Festivities included Christmas crafts for the younger guests, a favorite dice game called Houligan enjoyed by all the guests, and split the pot Bingo, and cash raffle. A highlight of the afternoon was a special visit from St. Nicholas, himself, who entertained the group with stories of kindness and generosity from his life. The children and adults present enjoyed participating in the telling of these stories and hearing about his life. The afternoon ended with a raffle of a variety of prizes including a laptop and Fire tablet.

This was a matching fund event for the District benefitting the Crisis Center for South Suburbia, an organization benefitting families of domestic violence. Guests were encouraged to donate needed products such as over the counter medications, or gift cards. Any cash donations or funds raised from the split the pot Bingo and split the pot cash raffle benefitted the Center as well. In total, several boxes of product donations were collected as well as over $1,300 including the matching funds from Home Office.

Many thanks to the Chicago District Board and the following branches for coordinating this event: S225 for Christmas crafts, S258 for event planning, Houligan, and food coordination, S421 for event planning, raffle, Bingo, and split the pot, J382 for sponsoring St. Nicholas, Joyce Kelly, Jeanette Palanca and Lorraine Gibas for raffle prize donations, and to the many guests and branches for their donations to the Crisis Center.