A child decorates a gingerbread house during Winter Wonderland on Dec. 7 at the Tri-Counties Community Center in Marysville.

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - Floor-to-ceiling stacks of presents lined the youth-side lobby of the Tri-Counties Community Center on Dec. 7 as families gathered for the organization’s annual Winter Wonderland celebration — an event that continues to grow each year in both size and impact.

The center has hosted Winter Wonderland for the past six years, but organizers say this year marked a new milestone.

“This is probably the biggest one we’ve had yet,” said Peggy DeHaan, board secretary and event organizer. “When we first started it was on a Wednesday skate night and we had Santa and Mrs. Claus in the vestibule with the big tree. Then we kept getting calls asking us if we could ‘please do another because my kids can’t get pictures with Santa.’ At the time Roseville was charging $50 for a picture with Santa — who could afford that?”

Harry and Peggy DeHaan, dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus, pose with Santa’s elves during Winter Wonderland on Dec. 7 at the Tri-Counties Community Center in Marysville.

Recognizing the need for accessible, family-friendly holiday programming, the DeHaans — alongside board members and volunteers — have since built one of the largest free holiday events in the region. This year, generosity poured in from across the community. Nine pallets of decorations and more than 1,000 toys were donated by organizations including Yuba-Sutter Stand Down and Habitat for Humanity. The volume of donations was so substantial that a U-Haul truck was required to transport everything to the center.

“It just kinda fell into our hands this year,” DeHaan said. “We don’t usually give out toys but (Katrina) arranged it all and it’s been amazing.”

Katrina Inman, one of the center’s newest board members and its vice president, played a key role in coordinating toy donations, volunteers and logistics — and is also credited with initiating the center’s first-ever special needs holiday program, Santa’s Snow Day.

A child decorates a holiday tree and makes cards during Winter Wonderland on Dec. 7 at the Tri-Counties Community Center in Marysville.

“Our goal was to have every child walk away with a toy and ultimately that’s what happened,” Inman said. “We had over 100 attend the special needs event and it went so smooth — we did tickets for the ones that were registered so that they did not have to stay in line. They could do whatever they wanted at the time until they were called, and we had no meltdowns.”

Board President Harry DeHaan said the success of Santa’s Snow Day reinforced the importance of inclusive programming.

“I really think this type of programming is something this community needs,” DeHaan said. “This is something we want to be doing more of in the coming year.”

Santa’s Snow Day was held the day prior to the traditional Winter Wonderland celebration and was divided into two separate sessions to allow participants more time, space and flexibility. The structure was intentionally designed to create a calmer, less overstimulating environment for children and families with special needs.

Families line up for free photos with Santa during the Tri-Counties Community Center’s annual Winter Wonderland event on Dec. 7 in Marysville.

With a background in photography, Peggy DeHaan designed a professional holiday photo setup complete with a red chair, well-lit trees and festive décor. After receiving free photos with Santa, children were guided through stations to select toys, stockings and other holiday items.

Additional activities throughout the weekend included photos with Santa’s elves, a Be Xtra 360 photo booth, cookie decorating, gingerbread house building, face painting and tree decorating with free mini trees.

Leftover toys and decorations will be distributed to Toys for Tots, the Be Xtra Community Center and the Sisters of Scota Women’s Motorcycle Club.

In total, approximately 300 families were served during this year’s events. Other major donors and partners included Sunset Buttes Lions Club, Peach Bowl Lions Club, Walmart, Yuba-Sutter Marketplace, Indian Education, Mini Miss SUtter, Yuba Sutter Ambassadors, Playzeum, and Dutch Bros. Coffee.

Donated toys and holiday decorations fill a room at the Tri-Counties Community Center ahead of the Winter Wonderland event on Dec. 7 in Marysville.