LOCAL

A CHRISTMAS STORY: How a crying child spurred a century of giving

Amanda Renko
arenko@stargazette.com | @SGAmandaR

The doors at Arctic League headquarters in Elmira don’t open until 6 on Christmas morning, but the first people arrive as early as 12 hours beforehand.

Smiling Arctic League volunteers prepare to hit the streets Dec. 25, 2015, with bags of gifts for needy children and families.

They’re wearing warm coats, mittens, sometimes a Santa Claus hat. They’ve brought hot chocolate, playing cards and musical instruments to keep them entertained as they huddle in front of 249 W. Clinton St.

A line gradually grows outside the building, spilling out of the parking lot, down the sidewalk and, eventually, around the block.

And they're not shivering in the chill for hours on end to collect Christmas Day goodies for themselves.

They're here for the chance to give.

Today, the Arctic League helps bring Christmas packages to thousands of children in a tradition that unites friends and strangers, board members and boys and girls, in a desire to give back to their community. The story begins more than 100 years ago, with a group of baseball buddies, a blizzard, and a crying child called Friday.

If you're looking for true Christmas spirit, Elmira is the epicenter.

People stand in line outside Arctic League headquarters on the morning of Dec. 25, 2015, waiting for the doors to open.

The rush to give

Volunteers open the doors a little before 6 a.m., and instantly, the line is put to work. Like a well-oiled machine, large clear plastic bags are handed off to each person in line, filled with toys, food and other items. Each package has been assembled by volunteers from local businesses and groups and tagged with the address of a child who, without the Arctic League, likely wouldn’t get much for Christmas.

Then the rush begins to deliver the packages for the more than 1,000 families eagerly awaiting their own version of Santa Claus' arrival. Those waiting in line will cover deliveries in Elmira; volunteer fire departments across the county take gifts to children in outlying areas.

Sometimes, there’s time to go back to headquarters for a second delivery. Other times, people at the back of the line have had to be turned away because there were too many helpers for the number of bags available.

The Arctic League serves about 3,500 children of varying ages in Chemung County every year, from families both small and big.

To Connie Stachowski of Elmira, seeing the reaction on families’ faces when they receive their packages makes waking up early worth it. She and her husband, Joe, have made the Arctic League a part of their Christmas celebrations for 25 years.

“We had one (family) that we delivered to, and they were jumping up and down and hugging us and thanking us,” she said. “That made us feel really good, to see that they really do appreciate what they’re getting.”

The Stachowskis also enjoy bringing friends, family and neighbors along to volunteer with them on Christmas morning.

“All our children are out of state now, but when they do come home for Christmases, we put them to work, too,” Stachowski said.

Volunteers pack bags for recipients of the Arctic League's Christmas gifts in this 2015 photo.

History and tradition

As the story goes, the Arctic League initially formed from a group of men who hung out at Lagonegro's Cigar Store in Elmira.

They liked to play baseball, and set out to do so one day in January 1912, until what started out as a nice day for a game devolved into blizzard conditions. The group trudged back to Lagonegro's, joking that if they stayed out too much longer, they’d have to play for the Arctic League — and so the name was born.

On Christmas 1912, one of the group's members, Danny Sullivan, set out for home from the store. He heard a cold, hungry boy crying outside who would later become the Arctic League's first recipient.

"Friday," as they called him, was taken back to the store, where the men clothed, fed and treated him — an action that would come to define the group's mission for the next century and beyond.

The public began to offer their donations to the cause, with one early notable rush to donate following a fire at the league's warehouse just five days before Christmas 1921. Six years later, the group would become a membership corporation, opening lifetime membership to all donors, a practice that continues today.

In a warehouse room lined with boxes, three groups came together to assemble 140 Christmas bags for needy children in Chemung County at the Arctic League in Elmira. The Arctic League fundraises annually to help give children a proper Christmas; this year, about 3,500 children will benefit from the donations.

Glenn Rolls of Elmira has volunteered for the Arctic League since he was a child and has seen the need for help grow in Chemung County, but also the number of those willing to lend a hand. When he was younger, he and his four siblings could deliver 12 bags, he said.

As a child, Rolls' parents would “pack us all in the car and take us away from all the gifts that were under our tree,” he said. “I wanted to stay home and unwrap them, but once you learn about the Arctic League, it really is a wonderful thing to open up your heart.”

The number of volunteers has grown exponentially since those days — even within the Rolls family, which will soon see its fourth generation of Arctic League helpers. Glenn and his wife, Mary Jane, introduced their children to the tradition, who are now grown and having children of their own.

“We just said we need to go help people who are not as fortunate as we are. Now they’re getting to the age where they’re having children, and they will be doing it also,” Rolls said. “It’s nice to see it being passed along to the next generation and to our grandchildren.”

The Arctic League Kids Choir belts out a tune during 2016's annual broadcast, held Dec. 4 at the Clemens Center.

A community effort

The Arctic League is woven into the fabric of the Elmira community during the Christmas season — and it’s all powered by scores of local volunteers, donors and board members, none of whom take a penny for their time.

The spirit even extends to Chemung County's youngest residents. A local child is selected each year as the organization's "bell ringer," who appears at events during the fundraising season, and dozens of children show off their singing talents in the Arctic League's annual broadcast at the Clemens Center.

This year's broadcast raised nearly $50,000, which helped the Arctic League reach its $120,000 goal by Dec. 16 — one of the earliest dates its Big Book has ever closed. The organization ends its fundraising for the year after hitting its goal, encouraging donors to support other charities instead.

From fundraising to running the broadcast to packing up the gifts, the Arctic League is a true community effort, a partnership between organizations, businesses and residents to bring a merry Christmas to thousands of kids.

“You see some of the same people year in and year out,” Rolls said. “Some of the people who are in line have received gifts, and they want to give back. When you hear stories like that, it proves to me that the system works.”

“It’s just something that we’re looking forward to doing to feel like we’ve done something,” Connie Stachowski said. “I guess it’s just in our DNA to help other people out when we can. It’s just a good feeling to help other people, and that’s what I think we need more of in this world.”

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