Photo By Scott Sturkol | Installation community members participate in the 2022 Fort McCoy Christmas Tree...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy held its 2022 Christmas Tree Lighting Event on Dec. 1, 2022, at McCoy’s Community Center with dozens of community members in attendance to enjoy a variety of holiday activities.
After a military family officially lit the Christmas tree in front of McCoy’s Community Center to officially kick off the holiday season, Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger told the event-goers it was time to have fun.
“Thank you all for being here,” Messenger said. “Now we are taking the festivities inside where it is a lot warmer. So come on inside and let’s go party.”
Inside McCoy’s there were many things to do. People could get photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. There was also cookies and hot chocolate available for everyone, and there was a wide variety of holiday crafts and activities for children and families to enjoy.
The event took place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and in addition to having all the work done through the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR), there also were several volunteers from organizations throughout the Fort McCoy Garrison helping as well.
Before the actual tree lighting, children active in the Fort McCoy Child and Youth Services program, also a part of DFMWR, sang Christmas songs to get everyone into the holiday spirit for the tree lighting.
The 2022 tree lighting also was probably the closest the event came to resembling what it had been in the past in 2019 prior to the pandemic of 2020. And, DFMWR officials were thankful to get back to normal.
“We’ve had to execute reduced-scale tree lighting ceremonies for the past few years due to the complications of with the pandemic and the demands placed on McCoy’s FMWR team, and during Operations Allies Welcome, so it was outstanding to see us return to the full-scale version of one of Fort McCoy’s favorite community events,” said DFMWR Director Patric McGuane. “Seeing the smiling faces on our Fort McCoy children as they got a chance to meet Santa and take part in the multitude of activities and crafts provided by our sponsors was clear evidence of how important this event is to our community.
“I’m especially thankful to all of our sponsors and volunteers who continue to support FMWR and Fort McCoy with their participation in this event,” McGuane said. “This great event would not have been possible without all of the support of our community partners. The Exchange, the USO, and the Religious Support Office also were fantastic partners in hosting this event and our special thanks goes out to those organizations as well. This was a perfect example of a community coming together through an FMWR sponsored event to celebrate the spirit of the holidays.”
Karla Rynes, acting DFMWR Business and Recreation Division director said, “I’m so proud of our Fort McCoy’s team and our FMWR Special Events team for putting together this fantastic event. Our team looks forward to this event each year and seeing the smiles on the hundreds of children’s faces is the reward that makes all of the hard work worthwhile.”
Learn more about more upcoming DFMWR holiday activities by visiting their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mccoymwr or their webpage at https://www.mccoy.armymwr.com.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2022 22:52 |
| Story ID: | 434810 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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