Children ‘dazzled’ for the holidays

Published 10:04 pm Friday, December 21, 2018

Staff at Hampton Inn Suffolk delivered another “Holiday Dazzle” for children on Friday, with plenty of fun, festive and messy treats.

The room smelled inviting with Little Caesars Pizza, plus Subway sandwiches and holiday cookies. Children were creative with glue and glitter on brightly-colored craft sticks. They lined up to meet Santa and told him their Christmas wishes.

Some wanted a toy or a football. Another wanted an Xbox. They all picked gifts from the toy box and enjoyed candy canes. General Manager Sabrina Miller’s 8-year-old granddaughter, Treazure Freeman, said she already wrote a letter to Santa and spent her time making things in “New Year’s colors,” as she called them.

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It was the third year of child-friendly festivities at the hotel, Miller said. Staff spread the word on social media and children were dropped off by their parents. Others were brought by Social Services, churches and the Suffolk Salvation Army.

“It’s all about the kids for the holiday times,” Miller said.

Councilman Mike Duman brought stocking stuffers like toys and candy to fill up 50 different stockings for the children. Suffolk Bible Baptist Church came out later in the afternoon to tell Christmas stories.

“They’re liking it so far, said Laverne Baynes with her five children. She said their favorite part of the day was making slime.

At the messiest arts and crafts table, children made their own squishy concoctions in their favorite colors. They stirred up their slime with ingredients like shaving cream and bagged their creations to take home.

“They loved it, though it is a lot of work,” Miller said and laughed as she looked at the rainbow of splatter. “As long as they’re having fun, that’s all that matters.”