Christmas cheer from many sources

Everything from fuzzy dice to chocolate-covered huckleberries and a wall calendar of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders emerged from red-and-green wrapping paper Wednesday as residents of the Montana Veterans Home received hundreds of donated Christmas presents.

Seated at a cafeteria table, Gina Becker, 91, beamed as she unwrapped a night light bearing the likeness of planet Earth. A Libby native and Coast Guard veteran, she has only been at the Columbia Falls facility for three months, and it was her first Christmas there since moving back to the Treasure State from Palm Beach, Florida.

“What a nice present to put up!” she laughed. “This is such a delightful place. I’ve never met so many people that can make it feel like home.”

About a dozen Veterans Home staffers and volunteers bustled through the facility’s four cafeterias, presenting veterans and their family members with large bags filled with clothes, bedding and bath products, along with a multitude of gifts tailored to each resident’s interests.

Wearing a University of Montana Grizzlies sweatshirt, Leroy Bolin was clearly pleased at receiving two new UM hoodies. He said he was a quarterback for the Griz for about a month, but then decided to join the Air Force during the Korean War.

“We got together one night, drank too much and decided to go to Korea,” he said with a grin. “We didn’t drink too much after that.”

Bonnie Stutsman, the center’s recreation supervisor, has been working with organizations and individuals to find gifts for the 107 residents at the Veterans Home. A Christmas tree at the Kalispell Center Mall raised donations of more than 100 presents over the past month, adorned with tags on which some of the residents’ requests were written.

Glacier High School students raised more than $1,000 through its “Greenlight a Vet” program, in which students and staff bought green light bulbs for their homes to show support for veterans.

Glacier senior Ian Petrini raised $225 by himself, going door-to-door in November to sell the lights to homes and businesses. The money was used to purchase three iPod Nanos, two iPod Touches and $225 in iTunes gift cards.

Glacier students visited the Veterans Home on Saturday and brought cookies, candy canes and gifts.

Students at Kalispell Middle School donated handmade pillows and Easthaven Baptist Church gave homemade quilts to each of the residents. The Flathead County Detention Center, Target, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, the Vietnam Veterans Association and the Montana Veterans Home Memorial Foundation also contributed to the event.

The Daily Inter Lake provided about 130 gifts, along with cookies and refreshments, through an employee donation program.

“This community is so supportive of its veterans,” Stutsman said. She added that when she started her job about a dozen years ago, she used to hold the gift-giving event in her office.

“But it’s just grown so big that we get one of our bigger conference areas, we gather them all together and take all the gifts out specifically for them in a bag with their name on it.”

Stutsman said sports-themed gifts were predictably popular (Broncos and Seahawks gear was also on the list), but other presents included a fish tank, massage therapy sessions and even some items donated from Milwaukee-based Schlitz Brewing.

“One of my employees directly contacted Schlitz and told them the history of the resident’s service, and that he requests Schlitz all the time and always talks about Schlitz,” she said. “They can’t send alcohol over state lines, but they did send some koozies and coasters and some T-shirts.”

The multitude of smiles throughout the Veterans Home was ample evidence the community efforts had paid off.

“They knew I was with the Griz for a while. I don’t know how they knew, but they did,” Bolin said, admiring his new maroon sweatshirt. “They’re wonderful here. They really are.”