Honoring a father’s legacy by celebrating Christmas in July
After Michelle Carter’s father passed away in 2008, family gatherings were never quite the same. The life of the party, her father was the one everyone could count on to tell jokes and keep everybody entertained. The Fourth of July family reunions, which consisted of camping, cookouts and fireworks, were especially hard.
In 2010, Michelle’s family decided to celebrate her father’s life by adding purpose to their annual reunion. They did this by paying respects to one of her father’s favorite activities – dressing up as Santa for their local Secret Santa program.
They gave the reunion a “Christmas in July” theme and asked all family members who were attending to bring a toy to donate in her father’s memory to the Tremont/Southwest Harbor Secret Santa Program. The response was overwhelming.
“Because of our gathering, the Secret Santa program now has 72 extra gifts,” said Michelle. ”And best of all, we had a wonderful day remembering a remarkable man.”