This article is from page 35 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 35 JPG
WHEN Santa landed with his sleigh in Killaloe at the weekend he was on a mission to bring a smile to the faces of east Clare children and help a good cause to boot.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Con- vent Hill Shopping Centre’s Christ- mas grotto opened its doors so that youngsters could give Santa their wish lists and Santa could raise cash for the Clarecare Molua centre.
On hand to add to the fun were Silly Sally and Crazy Daisy, who entertained the youngsters with face
painting and balloon sculpting.
Adding a touch more festive spirit to the proceedings were the Clare- care Molua carol singers performing Christmas favourites.
Clarecare volunteers packed bags for hard-pressed shoppers and they also helped by bag-packing in Queal- ly’s SuperValu on both days.
Centre manager, John Cannon said that this is the second year they have built the outside Alpine grotto.
“We had it inside the first year but this was much better. There was a great atmosphere about the whole thing. Everyone loved it.”
The little wooden hut which be- comes Santa’s temporary home is donated each year by Galway man, Tim Clune.
“It’s perfect for Santa and it looks lovely when it’s all done up,’ said John.
Last year, the grotto was open through the week, but 80 per cent of Santa’s little visitors came at the weekend, so it was decided to make this year’s visit a three-day event.
The takings from the weekend have yet to be totted up but even the bad weather didn’t dampen the enthusi- asm of Santa’s little visitors.
“Last year, we totted up €1,500 for Clarecare and I would hope it would be at least that much again,” said John.
And whatever was bagged for the charity, Santa went away with a bag full of requests and left behind a bundle of promises for good boys Nee Mean U he