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Christmas at City Hall. In 1928, Mrs. Ed Adrion, the first United Charities President, raised funds from local businesses, purchased a Christmas tree and held a Christmas Party for local needy children. 1,000 gifts were distributed among 800 children. In 1929, with the assistance of A. Hunter Jarreau, General Manager of The Town Talk, the Christmas Party became an annual event. This work continued through the Depression, the War Years and Post-War Period. In 1962, The Town Talk and the Rotary Club formalized this project by establishing the present-day Doll and Toy Fund.
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During the height of the Great Depression, the City Welfare Bureau sponsored a series of Food Benefit Shows in cooperation with the Paramount Theater and The Town Talk. They were held on Saturday mornings to benefit the unemployed and the needy of Alexandria and surrounding parishes. Admission to the show was any article of food or clothing to be distributed by the City Welfare Bureau. A Town Talk article dated 3-6-21 stated that the featured show for the event was a comedy called "Only Saps Work." Also on the program were a group of 16 Girl Scouts performing The Minuet, Elaine Jones rendering a musical reading and Lois Wheaton performing a song and dance number. |
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