Rye YMCA and The Rye Free Reading Room offer holiday events to members of the community

The city of Rye promotes fun family activities during the holiday season. The and The , offer their community members a chance to celebrate the holiday spirit with their loved ones.  Many children love to share their wish list with Santa or engage in arts and crafts.

The Rye YMCA is a diverse facility that offers many different activities that highlight the holiday season. Santa visited the Y. Snacks were offered and the families were encouraged to make arts and crafts. Children of all ages sat on Santa’s lap, whispering their wish list in his ear.

Ed Philipp, chief operating officer at the Y said, “Santa’s Visit has been going on for at least eight years; I’ve been here eight years and we’ve been doing it ever since I’ve been here.” 

First time attendee, Heidi Sontag was there with her twins, Dean and Blair. “Dean sat on Santa’s lap, Blair is not having it.”

The Gold family has loved taking part in Santa’s Visit for the past five years. Molly, Madison and Morgan tugged on their mom’s sweater in eager anticipation to sit on Santa’s lap.

Natalia Neybauer waited patiently on line with her two sons, Alexander and Ivan.  “This is our first time,” said Natalia. Ivan enthusiastically shared his desire for the iPad this holiday season.

Families can also attend The Rye Free Reading Room’s Friday Fun Club. The children hear stories about Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas.  Following story-time, they create arts and crafts projects related to the stories they hear.

Parent Colleen Agurto has been attending this particular program for three years with her children, Isabella and Matthew. 

“This program is geared for school aged children. It helps us build literacy skills in that age group as well as making a fun program for them. We also incorporate a craft that compliments the story of the day, most of the stories are either seasonal or holiday,” notes Donna Harvey, manager of children’s services at Rye Free Reading Room.

Assistant children’s librarian, Meg Stackpole has been actively engaged with Friday Fun Club for the past 25 years. “I think it’s fun to try to come up with a craft that’s connected to the story.”