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12/17/2018 11:00 PMIn a night of toy-making, holiday tunes, and Christmas tree lighting, residents of the Mansfield Landing apartments off Mansfield Grove Road gave back to their community.
The first annual Mansfield Landing Winter Festival took place on Dec. 12 in the on-site community building. Residents invited friends and family to take part in a holiday celebration featuring Santa’s workshop, a tree lighting, and the arrival of the big man himself.
Attendees were asked only to bring a toy donation for Toys for Tots (TFT) as their entrance fee.
Mark Carofano, a resident who helped plan the event, said that the Winter Festival took the place of the usual social gatherings to which residents bring food to share.
“Instead of food, they could bring a toy and that’s how it started,” Carofano said.
Planning for the event started in October. When the decision was made to turn the festival into a TFT event, they were able to secure sponsors like Big Y and Home Depot to provide food and wooden toy kits for Santa’s workshop.
The East Haven Fire Department also provided for Santa’s arrival via firetruck.
Marine Sergeant Rory O’Connor and lance corporals Christos Toromanides and Jacob Proctor were also on site as representatives of TFT, a program that was started by Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks and his wife, Diane, in 1947.
Speaking at the event, Toromanides said that the Marine Corps reserve is tasked with operating TFT and that the program has donated 543 million toys to date.
The local Marines are kept busy with the program. They said that the Winter Festival event was the fifth of their day and that they had at least three more planned for the following day.
“It was exciting to have them present,” said Carofano.
Kids in attendance at the event were able to hand toys directly to the Marines, which Carofano said was a nice addition to the evening.
“The kids were excited because they were able to see Santa and they were building the kits from Home Depot,” Carofano said.
But the real winner of the night was TFT. Carofano said that over the course of the two hour event, over 150 people brought nearly 300 toy items for donation.
“That’s the true meaning of the spirit of the holiday,” Carofano said. “It made us feel good as a community to give back to the larger community.”