Plenty’s Kids To The Country annual gift-making workshop was held at the Centerstone Building in Nashville this winter. The ever-popular gold wire halos were created by the girls, with the boys specializing in the wisteria wreaths. There were pages to color as well as activity sheets about Kwanzaa. This year long-time KTC Senior Staff Counselor, Ramona Christopherson, baked chocolate cupcakes and brought icing and sprinkles for the kids to decorate them with—both tasty and fun! Our event is traditionally scheduled on the last half day of school before winter vacation. This year’s event was quite special because it happened to fall on the first night of Hanukkah. We were fortunate to have Lanny Smith come in a double role, both as "Earthman" and as "Rabbi Lanny" who told the Hanukkah story to the children. Lanny comes from Florida where he runs an environmental education/media program where kids produce their own "commercials" for ecological awareness. For his appearances as "Earthman" he wears a soft, blue quilted globe and sings the "Recycle Blues."

Lanny brought a small menorah which we kept lit, while I talked about the principles of Kwanzaa and helped the children light the candles in the kinara. It was a wonderful opportunity to spread the message of diversity and spiritual connectedness.

Some of the older teenage boys who had helped out over the summer came to the workshop, and Urban Coordinator Sizwe Herring found time to take these young men aside and give them some additional "junior counselor"training.

Veteran drummer, public school instructor, and longtime KTC friend Mustafa Abdul-Aleem brought his dazzling array of percussion instruments, passing them out one by one until everyone had something to play. Giving clear, simple instructions, he counted out a few sample rhythms, and then suddenly, like magic, the group of total amateurs was jamming like an all-star drumline! You could almost hear the intake of breath as each person realized that he or she was actually making music! The commanding energy of the drums is irresistible to even the shyest child (or adult for that matter), and it ended our event on a high plateau of strong energy and good feelings all around.