Los Banos Rotary Club History
1250 Children To Be Feted at Annual Lions-Rotary Christmas Party

The annual Kiddies' Christmas Party, with Santa Claus, candy, fruit and a free movie, is scheduled for the children of this community next Wednesday, under sponsorship of the Rotary and Lions Clubs, in cooperation with the Del Rio Theatre.

Free tickets to the party have been distributed to all grammar school children in the Los Banos, Volta, Charleston and Hamburg Camp schools, and any visiting children or local children of preschool age who wish to attend may secure tickets at the theatre.

The committee anticipates there will be about 1250 kiddies at the party, but just to be sure they have prepared treats for another hundred-just in case.
Two shows have been arranged to handle the crowd, the first starting at 11:30 a.m. and the second at 2:00 p.m. Each party will be identical, and the tickets have been divided as evenly as possible to insure an equal crowd at both shows.

Dave Bolton, of San Francisco, co-owner of the Del Rio Theatre, is contributing the free use of the theatre for the day and is supplying the film, "The Barefoot Boy," with Jackie Moran, plus your cartoons. The Rotary and Lions Clubs are supplying the candy, fruit and nuts. The committee, headed by Joe Silva of the Rotary Club and Ernest Petrocelli and Joe Harness of the Lions, have arranged for pre-packed bags of exceptionally fine Christmas candy and a special shipment of apples direct from Oregon. The small novelty gifts previously included have been discontinued this year because of the impossibility of buying worthwhile toys within the limited price range, but the difference has been more than made up in the quality and quantity of the candy and fruit.

Santa Claus will arrive at the theatre immediately following each show and with the assistance of a dozen or so Rotary and Lion members, will distribute the gifts as the children leave.
Each movie will run for about 85 minutes and the theatre should be emptied within 15 minutes. Parents of the smaller children are asked to be at the theatre to pick them up at the conclusion of each show.

December 13, 1949

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