Registration opens next week

By Sheila Harris [email protected]

Christmas is upon us, and registration will be held next week for Cassville’s annual, community “Share Your Christmas” event. 

This year, registration will be held at the Cassville First United Methodist Church, located at 601 Gravel Street in Cassville, on Nov. 2-6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“In the past, registration was at the former OACAC building in Cassville,” said spokesperson Bobbie Tucker, who has helped with the program — designed to make the holidays brighter for area children — for more than 40 years. “But, [OACAC] closed, so registration will be here at the Methodist Church.”

The long-running Cassville “Share Your Christmas” tradition benefits Barry County families with children who are looking for additional support during the holiday season.

Share your Christmas provides toys and gifts for children from birth through age 12, and gift vouchers for youth, ages 13-18, who are still enrolled in school and living in the household.

Because the program has a limited reach, families are asked to bring a student report card or a current piece of mail with an address in Barry County.

Parents are asked to list the top-three desired gift items for children when they register.

Share Your Christmas is a complex, community-wide project, which involves multiple businesses in Cassville, residents willing to buy gifts, as well as Cassville High School Mr. and Miss Merry Christmas candidates who fundraise for the project.

“The Merry Christmas candidates have always been our largest source of revenue for Share Your Christmas,” Bobbi Tucker said. “Last year, the candidates raised over $16,000.”

The money is used to fill gift lists and buy vouchers for the children in the families who register.

Each of the top three wish-list items are placed on a single Christmas ornament. The ornaments are then distributed to area businesses, where they are hung on trees. Residents can then choose an ornament with a gift they’d like to shop for, and return the purchased gift to the business where they chose an ornament.

Gifts will be collected and taken to the Methodist Church, where they will be sorted by volunteers with the Share Your Christmas program, in time for families to pick them up and wrap them for Christmas.

Yes, it’s a lot of work, but fun, said Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce director, Morgan Williams, who will serve as the go-to person for questions for this year’s Share Your Christmas. Williams may be reached at 417-847-2814.

Tucker said that when she first began helping with Share Your Christmas, she remembers buying gifts for 12 families.

“That was before Walmart came to Cassville, and I shopped at Gamble’s, now long gone,” Tucker said.

Tucker said, last year, Share Your Christmas served 140 families, including over 400 children.

Share Your Christmas Volunteer Mindi Artherton said Mr. and Miss Merry Christmas candidates will begin fundraising on Nov. 16, and the winners — based on who raises the most money — will be announced during a school Christmas assembly on Dec. 18.

The high school portion of the community Share Your Christmas event, featuring Mr. and Miss Merry Christmas, is sponsored by the Cassville High School Student Council.