Hanging of the Greens: A Blast

On Saturday, December 6, Wesley hosted our annual Hanging of the Greens with the  theme,  “Capture the Wonder of Christmas!”  The evening included delicious food and  festive music played by the talented Wesley Ukulele Band. Ornaments were made by  children and adults alike. There were painted acrylic ball ornaments, a photo frame  showcasing the bright faces of the children and youth, a paper angel ornament painted  with watercolors, and a pine cone decorated with mini-pompoms. Jingle bell wristlets were  made to accompany the sing-along later in the evening. The event came to a musical close  with a sing-along in the sanctuary led by the Wesley Ukulele Band, and a visit by Santa  ringing his bell with a gold sack full of candy canes for one and all! By the end of the  evening, the bare 12-foot Christmas tree in the sanctuary was aglow, fully decorated with  colorful, sparkling ornaments. What a festive way to welcome the advent season!
 It takes many hands to host this festive, annual tradition. Special thanks to my daughters,  Mika Visitacion and Mari Fujii for helping to plan and organize the event, to the talented  Wesley Ukulele Band, and to Jim Mar for spreading jolly cheer!!  Many thanks to Eric Fujii  who put up the Christmas tree in the sanctuary and climbed the very high ladder to hang  all the ornaments. Thanks to all the CAF/MYF youth, parent volunteers, and God’s  Garden/CAF/MYF staff who helped with the ornament making stations, the potluck, in the  kitchen and with clean-up! A huge thanks to the Scouts for setting up all the tables and  chairs the evening prior!
 And of course, thank you to all who attended the event, for bringing your delicious dishes  to share, and for making MERRY memories together!
—With gratitude, Kiyomi Yanai

Photos & captions by Barbara Hiura

What's not to like and enjoy with this always high energy event. And why, because it's all about the children making ornaments to honor the coming Christ child.

Look at the yummy-looking food and the Wesley Ukulele Band got first crack at the table because they were first up to perform.

Shelley Nakashima enjoys chatting with Rev. Jon Visitacion who with Mika,  brought his kids Aki and Koki to this annual event.

Shelley impressed everyone with her fruit tree.  

Rev. John was in his holiday colors along with the festive outfits modeled by Carol Mar and Vanessa Perry-Mar.

Event coordinator, Kiyomi Yanai, got everything started with food, music and then ornaments making.

The children painted paper angels.

...bell wreaths

...decorated the frames of their photos,

...painted ornaments.

And of course, ornament making isn't just for the kids. Adults showed their artistic hand as well with the decorated pinecone illustrated by Tomoko Tanaka.

 The Wesley Ukulele band played sing-along-songs .

 The Wesley Keiki played.

WUB leader Tina Urata played with the Keiki.

Yay! Santa arrives.

And the children welcome him and line up to tell him their Christmas wishes.

Even a few adults take a turn sitting on Santa's lap with Judie Kanemoto taking her shot at a Christmas wish.