People gathered Sunday afternoon inside the old DeBorgia School house, which is the community center from town hall meetings to funerals to weddings for the west end residents. In this case, it was their celebratory Christmas tree lighting and Santa arrival.

“A few years after our family moved to DeBorgia we decided to decorate the tree known as ‘The Cooper Tree’ in front of the DeBorgia School House,” shares Sharon Kortuem. “Its name was such because the famous west end Cooper Brothers (known for their travel writing and presentations throughout the US around 1922), supposedly jumped over this tree when they were in school at DeBorgia. At the time, our agile son of about 8, now 48, climbed the prickly spruce to throw lights up high and some straggly dead strings still hang there,” she laughs. 

“One year we (husband, Bob) brought back from Alaska several Japanese floating fishing buoys and decorated them with tin foil and red ribbons for the tree. But as the years flew by, decorating the tree, even with the help of a Jenie lift, proved impossible, so now we just light the windows of our beloved schoolhouse as the school bell tolls the start of the season,” she reminisces. 

Kortuem is one of the dedicated volunteers who decorate, cook, clean, repair, plan and organize events in the west end as this community may be spread out, but they are a phone call away (where there is reception) of jumping in to help with anything.

This is the first year since the pandemic that this community gathering has taken place and attendance was small. 

“There are so many at home with the crud,” said Susan Charles, herself not feeling all that chipper. 

“And then there are some who might be snowed in farther back,” as the rain and skiff of snow at lower elevations was a nice dump in DeBorgia. 

Around a fire pit in the field between the West End Volunteer Fire Department and the Old DeBorgia School, someone had plowed a big stretch so a portable fire pit could be used for roasting marshmallows. 

Laughter is all that was heard because the traffic noise on I-90 was absorbed into the fresh white snow. When the marshmallow-crew finished singing Silent Night, the lights inside the school lit up and the bell in the belfry started ringing as 91-year-old Carl Stevens had climbed up into the bell tower once again for the honor. 

“It’s not hi-tech and it appears that I’m the only one who can squeeze my way up to do it,” he giggles.

Inside the festive school, homemade holiday cookies and treats were on decorated tables with coffee, hot chocolate, spiced cider and tea as beverages. But it wasn’t long before sirens blared, and they were close! Somehow, Santa Claus had talked Frank Magee, WEVFD Chief, to give him a lift on top of a fire truck over to the school so he could visit with the children.

“For a few years, we brought the (St. Regis) school band out to play for this,” said Naomi Stevens who is another DeBorgia School maintenance, cook and janitor volunteer. “We did it on a Thursday night and it started to compete with other school activities, and it was hard to keep it going. And a couple of years the road was treacherous so it was decided to stop that part so we decided to do it on Sunday.” As the visiting continued, one could hear plans for doing this next year already and maybe having a horse drawn sleigh for rides!

    After marshmallow roasting outside, inside the Old DeBorgia School, caroling, cookies, candies and camaraderie took place.
  

    Marshmallow mustaches were common in DeBorgia Sunday evening.
  

    Standing in front of the ‘Cooper Tree’, west end residents and family visitors roasted marshmallows to ring in the Christmas season as the bell in the school rang at 5 p.m. Sunday.
  

    “Santa is a hugger,” the jolly old elf said as he was welcomed by the children on the steps of the Old DeBorgia School Sunday.
  

    Santa arrived on a West End Volunteer Fire Truck with lights flashing and sires screaming.