On Sunday, Dec 21st after Divine Liturgy, the parish held its St. Nicholas Party during it's Coffee Hour.  The Feast day for St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, is commemorated each year on December 6th, but due to other conflicts this year, our celebration was delayed until Dec 21st. The gathering was very well attended and enjoyed by all. 

This annual event is held specifically for the parish children, but also for the parish community to gather for fellowship and seasonal joy.  There is a visit from Santa for the children, and all are requested to donate a Christmas gift to donate to local charity toy drive – this year the Church School collected gifts to go to the 3rd Graders at Beardsley Elementary School (Bridgeport) as part of a coordinated project with FOCUS North America (The Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve) and 2 other Orthodox Churches in Bridgeport (Holy Ghost Church on East Main St & St. John's Church on Mill Hill).

First off, many thanks go out to our Church School Coordinator & Teachers: Pauline Dionis, Nicole, Brooke, & Sophie Dionis for coordinating and running our Church School program.  For all of the St. Nicholas Party coordination, we thank Pauline Dionis, Curt & Nicole Dionis, & the Teuta Lakror-making group who handled all the major aspects of planning, cooking, and preparation for the celebration. To Diane Cryan, Laura Denisevich, Pauline Dionis & Cathy Hotova who helped with the cleanup.  To Greg Buzi II for "arranging" a visit from Santa, and to Sophie & Brooke Dionis who welcomed Santa, and helped Santa hand out his gifts to the children. Our final thank you goes to Old Towne Restaurant (60 Quality St, Trumbull) who donated the pizza’s for the party – we encourage everyone to make sure they include and patronize Old Towne Restaurant as part of their dining options. 

UPDATE on FOCUS Christmas Toy Drive for 3rd Graders at Beardsley Elementary School (Bridgeport):  Towards the end of the St. Nicholas Party on Sun, Dec 21st, Fr. David Cochran from St. John's Church on Mill Hill picked up all the donated Christmas toys and delivered them to Beardsley Elementary School that next day, so the school had time to distribute the gifts to the students before their Christmas break.  Fr. David reported that the coordinated toy drive project from FOCUS North America (participating churches were us, St. George, and St. John's and Holy Ghost from Bridgeport) was extremely successful -  that "we filled a small room with all the toys we collected".  Again, many thanks to all of St. George's parishioners who generously donated toys for this project.  Special thanks to: Vi & Jim Bowe who made a very generous donation of toys, to Laura Coughlin for coordinating, and to Pauline, Curt, Brooke, and Sophie Dionis who helped carry out and load up Fr. David's car with all the toys.

Below please find several photos from the day’s celebration and at the very end, please find photos of the 3rd Graders from Beardsley Elementary School after they received their toy gifts.