LAC LA BICHE - With so many events being cancelled on an almost-daily basis, due to COVID-19 measures, local groups are trying new ideas to help residents see the spirit of the season — some are doing it one day at a time.
Advent calendars, Christmas-themed creations that offer up surprise items for each day of the holiday season, have become a popular do-it-yourself project in recent weeks.
With many of Lac La Biche’s holiday traditions having to be cancelled due to COVID-19, like the Santa Claus parade, local organizations are doing what they can to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
New Life Victory Fellowship members say their advent calendar project is a way to cheer families up during the holidays, while following COVID-19 protocols. Sonia Vien, the Children’s Minister at the Lac La Biche Church, made advent calendars as a way for families to build excitement leading up to Christmas day. The advent calendars went out to 20 different families in the region.
The calendars from the church provide a series of is a chain-linked crafts and projects where every day is another link on the chain, along with a reading and a pamphlet explaining what each link represents.
“I put a lot of activities in there, so even if people are stuck at home they have something to do as a family,” said Vien.
There is also a game where the family reads A Christmas Story together as they pass around a present that is provided, and whoever the present lands on gets to unwrap the gift.
“The gift is for the whole family,” said Vien, explaining it as a hot chocolate treat that can be shared with the family. “I think it’s a really great family thing you can do together, reading the Christmas story, and then having something to do every day leading up to Christmas.”
Calendars made for seniors
Creating a project built with kindness and caring is the underlying thought of a similar advent calendar project being undertaken by Lac La Biche County’s FCSS department through the Teen Chill Zone program. Although in-person events that were occurring weekly in the Chill Zone have been sidelined due to the enhanced COVID measures in place for the next three weeks, FCSS staff have gone virtual for the month, starting with a virtual advent calendar-making workshop this Friday.
The online event will see 24 advent calendars made by the hands of local youngsters under the watchful eye and teaching guidance of local crafters. All 24 calendars will then be sent — eight each — to Lac La Biche seniors’ residences LacAlta Lodge, Points West Living and the W. J. Cadzow hospital’s extended care.
The calendars are expected to be part of a Christmas raffle at each location for seniors to take part in.
The FCSS crew has another virtual event for teens planned for the following Friday, with a festive sign-making workshop. Registration and information can be found on the FCSS social media page.
Offering a selection of family-themed projects— especially those that can be shared — and that bring something new each day is something Vien hopes more groups in the community will want to build on. She says that while the calendars are meant to bring daily kindness, their effects last much longer.
“I think it has more of an impact than we realize on people,” said Vien. “Giving back doesn’t just affect people for a day, or a year, but in the long run it can affect them for their whole life, and that can change their perspective on the world. It’s important to be kind to strangers, or different people you don’t know.”
