Annual cookie party is a sweet treat
Published 8:40 pm Wednesday, December 9, 2009
GRANITE FALLS — A decade ago, Jenny Skelton started a Christmas activity for her two children.
They invited a few friends and held a cookie baking and decorating party in her kitchen.
When one child asked her to throw the party again the following Christmas she did for about 15 children. In 2001, Skelton opened her home again for 38 kids who wanted to frost and sprinkle sugar cookies.
Skelton enlisted the help of neighbors and friends as more and more kids started coming to her party. But she knew that even with the extra help, she was quickly running out of kitchen space and available stoves to complete the baking.
“It got bigger and bigger and bigger and I started thinking, ‘Oh, now it’s getting out of control,” she said.
Skelton, 46, started holding her annual Children’s Cookie Decorating Party in 2002 at the Granite Falls Fraternal Order of Eagles dining hall, 402 N. Granite Ave. in Granite Falls. Members of the Eagles, friends and family donate rollers, cookie cutters and other baking supplies every year. For the past four years, students at Crossroads High School have helped bake cookies for the more than 100 children who attend the party.
“She brings in the dough and my class rolls it out, cuts the dough and bakes it up for her,” Cathy Wagner, career and technical teacher at Crossroads said. “Then they show up at the cookie decorating party and help the kids decorate.”
She buys the students Santa hats to help get them in the holiday spirit while they bake, Skelton said. Those who volunteer at the event from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday will wear elf hats while helping kids decorate their cookies.
A donation of a canned food item or a new, unwrapped toy is all it takes to participate in the event, Skelton said. The donations help fill Christmas baskets put together by the Eagles.
The baskets are given away to local families, said Donna Allen, an Eagles member.
“I know we gave away 20 baskets three years ago and last year was down,” she said. “I really expect it to be big this year because of the economy.”
Skelton wouldn’t be able to organize the party without help from the Eagles, she said. She hosts events at the Eagles club and raises money to buy dough, ingredients for the frosting and ornaments for each child.
Although the main event is the cookie decorating, Skelton has added other activities to the event every year. Children can get their picture taken with Santa, sing holiday karaoke or participate in the cupcake and cake walk. Skelton’s latest addition is a craft area where kids can make a bookmark this year.
“It’s something else to send them out the door with,” she said.
Debbie Taylor’s grandchildren travel from eastern Washington almost every year so they can attend the party.
“It has been just an incredible experience every year,” Taylor said. “The room is festive and they’re thrilled with the idea of being able to sit at a table and pick the color of the frosting they want.”
Skelton is looking forward to this year’s party.
“It’s just a lot of fun and everyone came together for this,” Skelton said. “It started with a simple idea and one little girl who came back and said that was so much fun, otherwise I don’t know if anybody would have made time to do it all every year.”
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.
You can help
Donations of cupcakes and cakes for the party will be accepted until 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Whistle Stop Coffee Shop, 109 S. Granite Ave., Granite Falls.
Bring a canned food or new, unwrapped toy donation to the Children’s Cookie Decorating Party from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Eagles dining hall, 402 N. Granite Ave., Granite Falls.
