The Lone Butte 4-H club invited Santa Claus down to the community hall for a photo-op on Dec. 17, with hopes of raising money for the club and food for Secret Santa food hampers.
“We just found families of our own,” said Heidi Meier, 4-H Club A leader and the organizer. “We just want to help them out with the Christmas season.”
So did the twenty or so families who came to take a photo with the big guy who sneaks down the chimney for a living, raising $200 and a bin of food.
“It’s the first thing we’re doing as a give back to the community,” said Meier, adding they are going to do two to four more fundraisers over the course of next year. “I believe it’s very important, we want to bring back the community to the community.”
Families could also bring their pets and extended families for the pictures and could take printed copies home with them.
The club decided to do the Santa photo theme because there seemed to be a lack of it around the area, so Meier and her cohorts decided to give it a whirl for the first time.
With the success of the event, the club will be doing it next year and are contemplating doing similar events, such as family portraits in the fall outside, using the “wilderness and greenery” as a backdrop, according to Meier.
Next year though, the club will be looking to use the youth in the club as photographers.
“We have a lot of kids who are are actually doing photography as a unit,” said Meier.”By next year, we will have older photography kids and we will get them to bring in their cameras and do it.”