Baldwin City promotes the celebration of the holidays with the Maple Leaf Festival every third weekend in October to welcome the fall season and reaches its peak in December with the Festival of Lights Parade and Tree Lighting, along with the addition of the seasonal Santa Claus Express event at the Midland Railway. A recent survey of Baldwin High School students resulted in the finding that students support the community of Baldwin City by participating in these holiday festivities.

We asked students both males and females from each grade 6 questions, one of those asked was whether or not they thought Baldwin City knew how to include all ages in its celebration of the holidays. Out of the 50 students surveyed, 58% agreed and 22% strongly agreed while 12% were neutral and 8% disagreed. The results left no room for the students at BHS to strongly disagree with the question of whether or not Baldwin City knows how to include all ages in the celebration of the holidays.

When students were asked if they usually attend the celebrations, 64% said yes because they enjoy spending time with friends and family, take the opportunity to support the community by watching or participating in the parades, or simply to get out of the house. Students who said that they did not attend the celebrations said it was because they live out of town, they don’t know what time the celebrations begin, or that they’ve outgrown them, which brought the total of students surveyed who said no to 16% and 20% of them to say sometimes because they are busy working jobs and don’t have extra time during the holiday season, or that they are usually out of town.

Our next question was ‘Do you volunteer your time during the holidays?’ which resulted in 58% of students survey to say no and 42% to say yes, along with stating the organization they work with. Their answers varied from local soup kitchens and food pantries, 4H clubs, the Lumberyard Arts Center, the Kansas Belle Dinner Train, and all the way to their church’s youth group. BHS students were also asked what age group they felt was best represented during the festivities and the numbers were somewhat surprising. Those who answered that all age groups were well catered to totaled 56% and 20% believed it to be 10 & under. Few students responded with 11-14 50-64 year olds having a place in the festivities, resulting in 14%. And even less, 6%, said that 50-64 year olds held a place in the celebration of the festivities. Only 4% of students surveyed agreed that ages 19-29 and 65 years and older were well represented. No one thought that 30-49 year olds were well represented.

The results became even more interesting when students had the opportunity to offer new traditions they thought Baldwin City should add to their celebrations of the holidays to better accommodate different age groups. Many simply stated that if anything is added, it should be available to families and people of all ages. Some specifically asked for something directed at teenagers. Above all, the responses clearly asked for some kind of exciting new activity or competition.

A freshman female said, “A Baldwin City Christmas musical.”

A sophomore female said, “An event that takes place around New Years.”

One junior female said, “A pageant or karaoke contest.” A junior male said, ” An eating or drinking contest.”

Out of two senior females who responded, one said, “A game of bingo that includes the whole town,”. The other said, “An easier way to get around because there are so many people.”

Citizens of Baldwin City are very community oriented, especially the teenagers who participate in the celebration of the holidays by volunteering their time or simply showing their support by staying involved with friends and family during the cold weather.