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It takes a village.

Or at least, it takes a lot of volunteers from a village.

Judy Webb organized another Cooleemee Senior Citizens Christmas Party this year, and like usual, she diverted the praise to all of the volunteers who collected donations, decorated, served food and performed a dozen other duties prior to the event.

The VFW hall was filled – even though the party was delayed for a day because of a power outage. And yes, Santa Claus made an appearance to help hand out gifts to Cooleemee’s senior citizens after they had filled their plates with barbecue, fried chicken side dishes and cake.

“I want to thank everybody who helped,” Webb said. “It takes a lot of volunteers to make this happen.”

The party has been ongoing for more than 20 years, but Webb said some new blood is needed. Most of the volunteers are senior citizens, themselves.