December 5, 2023 • 7 mins
Julie Fincher and Tasha Fitzgibbons of the Highland Lakes Service League recapped the nonprofit's annual Christmas party for residents with special needs and gave a preview of the Chuckwagon Chow Down fundraiser taking place on Jan. 27, 2024.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Back in the morning Kabe one onthree point nine FM. Julie Fincher and
Tasha Fitzgibbons are with me there withthe Highland Lake Service League Special Needs Christmas
Party co chairs. Hi ladies,good morning, how are you hello?
That was a whole long sentence therealready had to catch my breath after it.
But that's a that's a long sentencefor a really sweet special event that
(00:20):
y'all do every year. Tell meabout the special Needs Christmas Party. The
Highland Lake Service League has been hostinga Christmas party for special needs students and
adults across Burnett and Lano Counties formore than twenty years. Really well,
and this is the first year thatJulie and I have been the co chairs,
So we had huge shoes to stepinto and try to fill and I'm
(00:42):
happy to say with the cooperation andenergy of all of our members, we
had an amazing party this past Friday. How do you find people that want
to come to the Christmas Party?We included all of the school districts,
so that was all of Burnett andLanta and Marba Fall school districts, and
then we went to the group homesand invited all of them, and then
(01:02):
just through word of mouth and somekey people in the community, we were
able to locate individuals that just liveat home and are not affiliated with the
other one of them and we invitedthem to come. That's sweet. So
how many people all in all didyou have come through? With guests and
volunteers. We had around five hundredpeople at the party. So I just
(01:23):
I wanted to touch on one thingJulie mentioned. We made some really key
contacts this past year when we attendedthe Night to Remember Prom at Hill Country
Fellowship And there are some folks therethat are setting up some ministries at the
church, particularly for special needs folks, and one individual in particular was truly
helpful and identifying and actually helping transporta lot of folks to the party who
(01:47):
otherwise wouldn't have been able to come. So y'all throw this big old party?
And where do you throw it?How's it done? I mean,
tell me about the when people walkin there, what's it? You know?
What are their reactions? What dothey do? We held it at
Putters and Gutters this year. Theywere one of our big sponsors. When
you walk in, you go tothe registration table, you just come into
(02:08):
this magical Christmas North Pole wonderland andit was just decorated with Christmas trees and
all kinds of decor. We havebowling, we have an activities out in
the arena which was consistent of ladderball and cornhole, and we had Santa
(02:29):
there. The kids could visit withSanta. We had crafts, we had
dancing, we had letters to Santa, face painting, face painting, we
just had it all and they hadlunched there and just had a marvelous time.
So Putters and Gutters allows y'all justto come in and kind of take
over the place. Absolutely. Theyare an incredible partner for us. Last
(02:49):
year was the first year we hostedthere, so we were all finding our
footing and they were relatively new intothe Marble Falls community. And this year
we were just a seamless team.They are incredible, amazingly supportive of what
we do, and they do basicallyjust step back and let us take care
of things. We pull out themop buckets and do all everything top to
(03:12):
bottom. So they're incredible sponsors.It's a fabulous venue for the guests and
we are already planning some things fornext year. That place is bright and
cheery and full of lights and lotsgoing on all the time anyway, but
I guess when it gets all decoratedup, it's even more special. It
is. We had a really specialcomponent this year. The Marble Falls Art
(03:35):
Department partnered with us to create thesewinter scenes that are painted on canvases,
and so some of our members createdlike a wooden structure to cover off all
the arcade games at the beginning,because that's not a part of what we
do. And these scenes there weretwelve or thirteen canvases. They are absolutely
incredible. They are literally works ofart that the Service League will have now
(04:00):
in perpetuity, and we were soexcited to partner with the school to have
that done. So they did anincredible job. So it's really a multi
level affair where people all over comein together and helping out. Now,
is this one of your main thingsthat you do during the year. This
is why the one of the reasonsthat the Highland Lakes Service League raises money,
(04:21):
huh. It is one of thecomponents. As you and I have
spoken before about the grants that weoffer to the community as well as scholarships
for adult women in the area.Yes, this is something. This is
one of our big give backs tothe area. Mid Shields, who works
with us here, it gets excitedabout this every year. He's your DJ
(04:41):
and he you know, don't lethim fool you. He gets excited about
going to this every year. It'svery sweet. The kids love, love,
love dancing music. I mean,that's one of the highlights. And
they get to go into the onthe dance floor. Whenever there's a lack
in any type of activity, orif they just just some time, they
just hang out in there. Oh, you were trying to kind of get
(05:01):
them out of there to do otherthings, and they just wanted to dance.
I want to hang with the music. I was actually talking with a
couple of the guests and they weretalking about how I asked, what's your
favorite part and they were talking about, Oh, we love the dancing.
We love the dancing, and theDJ is amazing, And so I asked,
do you know the radio station KPEand they said yes, because country
(05:23):
music is our favorite, And soI asked if they knew you and Ben
and they said, wait, arethose the guys on the radio? And
I said, yes, it's thatradio station and so I offered to introduce
them and they both said, ohno, no, no, what would
we say? Oh guys, anyway, yes, Ben Ben is a celebrity.
Sweet. That's really sweet. Andnow that your Christmas party is in
(05:46):
the past, what's coming up nextfor the service lead the twenty twenty four
Chuck Wagon Chowdown, which this isour fundraiser. The Highlandlake Service League has
one fundraiser a year and it's throughthis activity that we fund grants for the
community, adults, women, scholarships, and then of course this party that
we've just done. So it's Januarytwenty seventh, Okay at the y and
(06:10):
burn It's okay, And all theinformation can be found on our websites,
which is HLSL dot org. Okay, HLSL dot org. Anything you're on
social media too, yes, Facebookand Instagram, and tables will be going
on sale shortly. There's live musicby Triple Bogie. It's a barbecue,
a silent and a live auction,dancing after the dinner, and there are
(06:34):
a few surprises this year is atthis event that haven't been there before.
Okay, if someone is interested injoining y'all at the Highland Lakes Service lea
what do we do. You cango on our website and there's a contact
us page and then fill out theinformation and someone will get hold up on
(06:54):
Okay. We meet once a monthat Lakinta in Marble Falls, and everyone
is welcome. We welcome anybody witha giving heart and energetic hands. Good
good, Okay. The Highland BlaksService League, thank you for what y'all
do in the community. Thank youfor the special Christmas celebration that you do
for our special needs population every year. And it sounds like, how many
(07:16):
people did you say you had thisyear with guests and volunteers. We were
around five hundred. That's amazing andit grows every year. It seems like
us that's our hope. Oh good. And I wanted to add if there
is any individuals that we have missedthis year, we would encourage them to
go on our website and fill outthe contact us and so that we can
(07:36):
include them next year and the party. Okay, good. Julie Fincher,
Antasha Fitzgibbons, thank you the HighlandinksService League again. You can find them
online at HLSL dot org. Andthank y'all again for coming in and telling
us all about it, thank youvery much,
Back in the morning Kabe one onthree point nine FM. Julie Fincher and
Tasha Fitzgibbons are with me there withthe Highland Lake Service League Special Needs Christmas
Party co chairs. Hi ladies,good morning, how are you hello?
That was a whole long sentence therealready had to catch my breath after it.
But that's a that's a long sentencefor a really sweet special event that
(00:20):
y'all do every year. Tell meabout the special Needs Christmas Party. The
Highland Lake Service League has been hostinga Christmas party for special needs students and
adults across Burnett and Lano Counties formore than twenty years. Really well,
and this is the first year thatJulie and I have been the co chairs,
So we had huge shoes to stepinto and try to fill and I'm
(00:42):
happy to say with the cooperation andenergy of all of our members, we
had an amazing party this past Friday. How do you find people that want
to come to the Christmas Party?We included all of the school districts,
so that was all of Burnett andLanta and Marba Fall school districts, and
then we went to the group homesand invited all of them, and then
(01:02):
just through word of mouth and somekey people in the community, we were
able to locate individuals that just liveat home and are not affiliated with the
other one of them and we invitedthem to come. That's sweet. So
how many people all in all didyou have come through? With guests and
volunteers. We had around five hundredpeople at the party. So I just
(01:23):
I wanted to touch on one thingJulie mentioned. We made some really key
contacts this past year when we attendedthe Night to Remember Prom at Hill Country
Fellowship And there are some folks therethat are setting up some ministries at the
church, particularly for special needs folks, and one individual in particular was truly
helpful and identifying and actually helping transporta lot of folks to the party who
(01:47):
otherwise wouldn't have been able to come. So y'all throw this big old party?
And where do you throw it?How's it done? I mean,
tell me about the when people walkin there, what's it? You know?
What are their reactions? What dothey do? We held it at
Putters and Gutters this year. Theywere one of our big sponsors. When
you walk in, you go tothe registration table, you just come into
(02:08):
this magical Christmas North Pole wonderland andit was just decorated with Christmas trees and
all kinds of decor. We havebowling, we have an activities out in
the arena which was consistent of ladderball and cornhole, and we had Santa
(02:29):
there. The kids could visit withSanta. We had crafts, we had
dancing, we had letters to Santa, face painting, face painting, we
just had it all and they hadlunched there and just had a marvelous time.
So Putters and Gutters allows y'all justto come in and kind of take
over the place. Absolutely. Theyare an incredible partner for us. Last
(02:49):
year was the first year we hostedthere, so we were all finding our
footing and they were relatively new intothe Marble Falls community. And this year
we were just a seamless team.They are incredible, amazingly supportive of what
we do, and they do basicallyjust step back and let us take care
of things. We pull out themop buckets and do all everything top to
(03:12):
bottom. So they're incredible sponsors.It's a fabulous venue for the guests and
we are already planning some things fornext year. That place is bright and
cheery and full of lights and lotsgoing on all the time anyway, but
I guess when it gets all decoratedup, it's even more special. It
is. We had a really specialcomponent this year. The Marble Falls Art
(03:35):
Department partnered with us to create thesewinter scenes that are painted on canvases,
and so some of our members createdlike a wooden structure to cover off all
the arcade games at the beginning,because that's not a part of what we
do. And these scenes there weretwelve or thirteen canvases. They are absolutely
incredible. They are literally works ofart that the Service League will have now
(04:00):
in perpetuity, and we were soexcited to partner with the school to have
that done. So they did anincredible job. So it's really a multi
level affair where people all over comein together and helping out. Now,
is this one of your main thingsthat you do during the year. This
is why the one of the reasonsthat the Highland Lakes Service League raises money,
(04:21):
huh. It is one of thecomponents. As you and I have
spoken before about the grants that weoffer to the community as well as scholarships
for adult women in the area.Yes, this is something. This is
one of our big give backs tothe area. Mid Shields, who works
with us here, it gets excitedabout this every year. He's your DJ
(04:41):
and he you know, don't lethim fool you. He gets excited about
going to this every year. It'svery sweet. The kids love, love,
love dancing music. I mean,that's one of the highlights. And
they get to go into the onthe dance floor. Whenever there's a lack
in any type of activity, orif they just just some time, they
just hang out in there. Oh, you were trying to kind of get
(05:01):
them out of there to do otherthings, and they just wanted to dance.
I want to hang with the music. I was actually talking with a
couple of the guests and they weretalking about how I asked, what's your
favorite part and they were talking about, Oh, we love the dancing.
We love the dancing, and theDJ is amazing, And so I asked,
do you know the radio station KPEand they said yes, because country
(05:23):
music is our favorite, And soI asked if they knew you and Ben
and they said, wait, arethose the guys on the radio? And
I said, yes, it's thatradio station and so I offered to introduce
them and they both said, ohno, no, no, what would
we say? Oh guys, anyway, yes, Ben Ben is a celebrity.
Sweet. That's really sweet. Andnow that your Christmas party is in
(05:46):
the past, what's coming up nextfor the service lead the twenty twenty four
Chuck Wagon Chowdown, which this isour fundraiser. The Highlandlake Service League has
one fundraiser a year and it's throughthis activity that we fund grants for the
community, adults, women, scholarships, and then of course this party that
we've just done. So it's Januarytwenty seventh, Okay at the y and
(06:10):
burn It's okay, And all theinformation can be found on our websites,
which is HLSL dot org. Okay, HLSL dot org. Anything you're on
social media too, yes, Facebookand Instagram, and tables will be going
on sale shortly. There's live musicby Triple Bogie. It's a barbecue,
a silent and a live auction,dancing after the dinner, and there are
(06:34):
a few surprises this year is atthis event that haven't been there before.
Okay, if someone is interested injoining y'all at the Highland Lakes Service lea
what do we do. You cango on our website and there's a contact
us page and then fill out theinformation and someone will get hold up on
(06:54):
Okay. We meet once a monthat Lakinta in Marble Falls, and everyone
is welcome. We welcome anybody witha giving heart and energetic hands. Good
good, Okay. The Highland BlaksService League, thank you for what y'all
do in the community. Thank youfor the special Christmas celebration that you do
for our special needs population every year. And it sounds like, how many
(07:16):
people did you say you had thisyear with guests and volunteers. We were
around five hundred. That's amazing andit grows every year. It seems like
us that's our hope. Oh good. And I wanted to add if there
is any individuals that we have missedthis year, we would encourage them to
go on our website and fill outthe contact us and so that we can
(07:36):
include them next year and the party. Okay, good. Julie Fincher,
Antasha Fitzgibbons, thank you the HighlandinksService League again. You can find them
online at HLSL dot org. Andthank y'all again for coming in and telling
us all about it, thank youvery much,
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