'Tots' drive captures love, joy

SANDPOINT — Did you put up a Christmas tree?

According to History.com, 88% of people do just that and 74% of people attend a Christmas party.

The website also notes that the most lights ever put on a Christmas tree totals a whopping 194,672 on a tree in Belgium in 2010 and that the most expensively decorated Christmas tree was valued at more than $11 million on a tree displayed at the Emirates Place in the United Arab Emirate.

History.com also notes that more than 350 million Christmas trees are growing in the United States at this very moment.

The most common Christmas tree varieties include the balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine, white pine, Norway spruce and blue spruce.

There are many towns in the U.S. with Christmas-y names, including North Pole, Alaska, Santa Claus, Ga., Santa Claus, Ind., Noel, Mo., Rudolph, Wis., Dasher, Ga., Snowflake, Ariz., and Holly Springs, Mich. Surprisingly, Santa-Point, Idaho-ho-ho, didn’t make the list.

More than 1.76 billion candy canes are produced in the United States each year — and laid, end to end, they would circle the equator 6.7 times, according to the website.

History.com also notes that about 93% of people exchange gifts during the holidays.

Other Christmas facts relayed by History.com include:

• Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.
• Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.
• Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.
• The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith’s 1607 Jamestown settlement.
• In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous — a lot like today’s Mardi Gras parties.

But what happens if life throws you a curveball and you aren’t able to buy presents this Christmas? That’s where this great community and the Sandpoint Lions come in. Somehow, everyone finds a way to ensure all local youth have the merriest of Christmases.

Today's generous donation comes from the Ambrosiani Foundation. While the foundation asked that the amount not be disclosed, it brought the Lions closer to their $75,000 goal.

To date, more than $51,609.87 has been raised toward the amount needed to ensure all local youth have the merriest of Christmases. 

Funds raised during the annual campaign go to purchase new toys for area children — or gift cards for older youth — who live in the Lake Pend Oreille School District. Every Christmas, the Lions help almost 1,000 area children, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in between.

In addition, the Lions give a gift card to a local grocery store so that families can get supplies for their Christmas dinner.

Demand for the program is well above last year's total, with 100 more applications submitted during the first week than in 2022.

Donations for Toys for Tots can be dropped off at the front desk at the Bonner County Daily Bee, 310 Church St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. You can also drop off donations (checks and cashier's checks) at Umpqua Bank’s Sandpoint branch, 414 Church St., or at the Ponderay branch, 300 Bonner Mall Way; and at the Ponderay Starbucks.

Donations may be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, Box 414, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please mention that in your note.

If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.

Information: Sandpoint Lions Club, 208-263-4118, or online at bit.ly/SandpointLions