Families receive food, gifts

This year’s Weyauwega-Fremont Christmas Giving Tree provided gifts and food for 47 families.

The distribution took place on Saturday, Dec. 16, at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, in Weyauwega.

The ecumenical project involved First Presbyterian Church, Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and St. Peter Lutheran Church.

Knight of Columbus Council 13702 organized it and worked with St. Anne’s Parish Council of Christian Women.

Individuals, families and businesses from the area supported it.

Families received clothing, toys and non-perishable food items.

The program serves families in the W-F School District.

Pat Shaw is a member of the local Knights of Columbus Council.

This was the first year he organized it, after Don Planz passed away last May.

Planz had organized it with the help of his wife Betty. She passed away in October 2016.

“Thank goodness he had a spiral notebook with everything it it,” Shaw said of Planz. “When he passed away, his daughter gave me a cardboard box. He wrote everything down. I’m glad he did that.”

Shaw began seeking donations for this year’s Weyauwega-Fremont Christmas Giving Tree by the end of October.

“We’ve been kind of working all week,” he said last Saturday morning, as the volunteers prepared to give the gifts and food to families who live in the school district.

Volunteers believe the program has been in place for more than 15 years.