EDITORIAL: Help honor founders of CFA feast

Toss another log on the fire and pull up a chair. Make sure you’ve topped off your coffee; it’s storytime.

Longtime Press subscribers are joyously familiar with Press Christmas for All, but you newcomers should know the genesis of this beloved local holiday story.

As Press columnist Dave Oliveria explained in his Dec. 1 Huckleberries column, a local couple, Mae and Larry Hanley, were the actual founders of the program that became Press Christmas for All.

In the Dec. 12, 1980, Press, the Hanleys and their endeavor were the subject of a five-paragraph article. The Hanleys asked readers to contact them if they had any gifts, toys, food or money to contribute to a program they decided to call Christmas for All. Their intended beneficiaries were neighbors in need at Christmastime. 

While the Hanleys gave Christmas for All its start — they raised something like $150 that first year, according to Press archives — local churches got involved and the program grew a little more over several years.

But it hit a low ceiling. Former Press executive Bob Paulos and owner Duane Hagadone brainstormed to see how they might help it expand. And now, nearly four and a half decades and millions of generously donated dollars later, the program thrives.

(Just so you know, Larry Hanley remained a diligent donor to the program well after his wife died in 1997.)

Through the years, the program has morphed from one that asked people to donate new toys, clothing and gifts to one that now relies exclusively on financial contributions. These range from a child's piggy bank savings to large corporate, trust and other donations.

In the early years, donations of toys, food, bicycles, TVs and more became so bountiful that warehouse space was needed. Press Christmas for All literally outgrew storage space and made the switch to dollars, which could be better leveraged toward lasting improvement in recipients' lives rather than one-day wonders.

While this transformative holiday event would never have happened without the inspiration of the Hanleys, it blossomed under the tender loving care of Bob and Virginia Paulos. 

Virginia died in 2008 and Bob in 2009. They never had children of their own. Press Christmas for All was their baby, and they nurtured it and helped it grow through tireless effort and boundless love.

Virginia succumbed to Alzheimer's; near the end she didn't recognize her husband.

Aged and ill, Bob lived his final days in Oklahoma, where an adoring family watched over him. It was a blessing he had earned over a lifetime.

In their memory, please give what you can.