By CARRIE STAMBAUGH / The Independent
CANNONSBURG — Christmas came early for some lucky children in Boyd County who got the opportunity Monday to shop with the Cannonsburg Volunteer Fire Department.
“Ooh! I need this,” said an excited Kalista Sparks, 4, picking out her first toy — a box of Bendaroos. Within minutes Kalista had filled her cart with an Ariel Barbie doll, a googlie giggler and a Snow White horse, bubbles and a few other small items.
Her brother, Michael Sparks, 10, waited patiently but anxiously until it was his turn. Then he sprinted toward the electronics section — firefighters and mother in tow — to pick out an MP3 player.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said later about shopping with the firefighters, while he browsed for a case to store the player.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done this. It’s fun,” said the children’s mother, Sharon Sparks. “It’s helped us out a lot.”
“It came at the perfect time for us because I just lost my job,” she said, adding she was among several employees laid off by Professional Maintenance.
“These types of programs are really, really nice this time of year,” she said.
Across the store, Brittany Finley, 3, had picked out a diaper bag for her baby dolls. Her big sister, Kirstin Finley, 6, said her younger sibling “has two” baby dolls. “I got one of these, because I have a littlest pet shop,” she said, displaying the accessories for the toy shop she’d picked out with the help of her grandmother, Peggy Ropp, and the pair of firefighters who were shopping with them.
“I think it’s real nice what they are doing,” said Peggy Ropp.
“It’s fun,” Kirstin Finley added.
Firefighter John Davis was shopping with Devon Workman, 11. Workman had picked out a hotwheels race track and some video games.
“We had to go get mom’s approval for these,” said Davis, referring to the box set of Mortal Combat games Workman had chosen. “She approved them,” Davis said.
Workman said his mother would likely to play Mortal with him. “You can keep pressing buttons and then you win,” he said, noting it was an easy game to play.
He said he was enjoying his morning, even making a new friend in the process. “It’s fun,” Workman said.
“We’re buds now,” agreed Davis.
Davis said he and fellow firefighter Tony Waggoner along with Chief Richard Cyrus did most of the organizing for the program. Davis said it was principally funded though the 5K run the department had in April along with private donations.
“A lot of the community helped out quite a bit,” said Davis.
Fire Chief Richard Cyrus explained the program was reinstated this year following a two-year hiatus. The department, he said, also expanded the program to include children of all ages living in the district. “For some of them this is the only Christmas they get,” Cyrus said.
Thirty-two children shopped with firefighters at the Wal-Mart Cannonsburg, where they were allowed to pick out toys and items totaling up to $100.
CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
