American Legion Post 52 and Auxiliary will sponsor Hartselle’s Annual Kids Day Program at Sparkman Civic Center Fri., Dec. 12, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Participating will be pre-kindergarten–fourth grade students from Danville-Neel Elementary School, Falkville Elementary School, Eva School and Sparkman School.

Each child will receive an age-appropriate wrapped gift from Santa Claus and a bag of fruit and candy from his volunteer helpers.

:We expect to have 250 to 325 kids and chaperones arriving at the gym by bus from their respective schools shortly after 8 a.m..,” said  Bob Train, post  commander and project coordinator. “Santa is expected to make his appearance around 8:30 a.m. That’s when the gym will light up with the beaming smiles of they kids as they eagerly await for their names to be called so they can visit with Santa and receive their gifts.”

Train said gifts were purchased from a toy wholesaler in Huntsville several weeks ago when selection was at its peak.

“We try to get there as soon as they’ll let us select the gifts we need,” he pointed out. “By doing that we are assured of getting good quality gift items  at a fair price.”

He said the legion post is using $3,500 to $4,000 from bingo proceeds to purchase  the gifts.

“Volunteers are always needed to ensure the project’s success,” he stated.  “We depend on the auxiliary and other volunteers to wrap gifts.”