By Allison Peck | North Platte Post/Sandhills Post
North Platte, Neb. — Families packed the Mid Plains Community College South Campus Thursday evening for Santa’s Workshop, an indoor–outdoor holiday celebration complete with outdoor heaters, warm drinks, and Christmas excitement. Children lined up early for hot chocolate, popcorn, and a visit with Santa, while parents snapped photos and helped little ones drop letters into the special North Pole mailbox.
The event also featured a short holiday performance by the three- and four-year-old classes from Trucks N’ Tiaras Academy of Discovery and Enrichment, whose new location on campus helped make the collaboration seamless. But for most of the night, the spotlight stayed on the experience families came to enjoy.
Mid Plains’ Sydney Purdy said the turnout exceeded expectations. “I’ve seen a lot of people, a lot of smiling kids. They were super excited to see Santa,” she said. She added that the children’s performance was “a little program, a little Christmas concert, and that was super cute,” and noted “hands full of hot chocolate and popcorn and some letters to the big guy himself.”
Purdy said she hopes to get those letters sent out soon. “Yes, yes, yes. I’m hopeful to get them shipped off and hopefully, hopefully the big man writes off.”
While Trucks N’ Tiaras contributed the holiday program, Director and Owner Holly Hill said the event is part of a larger effort to blend the college and childcare communities. “When we started with the partnership with Mid Plains, we kind of decided that we would do something every month,” she said. “Just to do a partnership and include the kids from the college and our staff and families and children.”
Purdy said the college is eager to continue building connections. “Holly recently reached out and we’ve just been talking about some ideas,” she said, explaining the Christmas concert was organized “in a short month.” She hopes future activities will bring more MPCC students into the mix, whether to “play some basketball in the gym… or go over and just read a few stories or, maybe some recess time or something like that.”
Both say the goal is to create more moments like Thursday night — events that bring families onto campus, strengthen community ties, and give children a sense of belonging. Hill added, “We’re so thankful that the college gave us this opportunity to be able to have a partnership with them and also be able to have college kids, have the relationship with our younger kids.”
Despite earlier worries about the weather, Purdy said the strong turnout showed how much the community values events like Santa’s Workshop. “When you feel a little bit overwhelmed and a little bit, like, whoa, there’s a lot of people here. That’s a good thing,” she said. “People showed up and I’m super excited. I’m thankful for our community that like to come out here and support us.”
She also credited the many people who helped make the evening possible. “I’m thankful, thankful for all the volunteers that helped and it takes a village to put all this into work.”
Santa’s Workshop continued until 7:30 p.m., offering families a festive holiday evening at Mid Plains South Campus.