Bethel ‘Toys for Tots’ Effort Supports USMC Program
By Mary Anderson

Bea McCullough (left) and Tina Therrien are involved with providing a merry Christmas for needy youngsters through the Toys for Tots program. (Herald / Mary Anderson)

This year, the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program is celebrating its 60^th anniversary and for seven years, local residents have been aiding its survival.

Bea McCullough of Bethel Lympus, who is committed to "supporting children," heard about the program and went on a mission to bring it to the local area. She discovered there was a program in Barre and made arrangements for a collection box to be placed at the family store, McCulloughs Quik Stop, on Rte. 107, just across the Bethel line in Royalton.

The local program is run by the Marine Corps League out of Lebanon, N.H. It begins in late November when a box is placed at the store. Anyone is welcome to donate toys, as long as they are new and unwrapped. As the store is open from 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, it is easy for people to stop by. Technically, the program shuts down one week before Christmas, although no donations will be turned away if they arrive later.

"People are very responsive," McCullough notes. "We have a big box that gets filled weekly. As it gets closer to Christmas, it has to be emptied every few days." She says they get a lot of stuffed toys, in addition to "many wonderful brand name items." She also notes that it is not just regular customers who bring items by. She mentioned in particular a "lady in Rochester who buys and saves up over the year and comes over the mountain" to drop off the gifts.

For McCullough, it’s especially heartwarming to see the families who "come in with their children. The children pick out the item to buy and then come into the store and place it in the box." She stresses the important lesson that children learn in this process, noting that for parents it’s a great "method to teach their children the spirit of Christmas."

McCullough reminisces with pleasure about past years when local people like Bill Green of Bethel and Gene Martin of Pittsfield came to the rescue. "Gene Martin used to come every year and open his car trunk and it would be stuffed full of items," she said, many of them made by the Pittsfield Women’s Club under the organization of Susie Martin.

"One year, we had a huge load of gifts come in on the 23^rd when the program had already shut down," McCullough recalls. "Bill Green came and distributed them to those in need." She adds that the Vermont Law School employees are major contributors.

All gifts are distributed in the central Vermont/N.H. area. Retired Marine, Rob Ward of Fairlee, who answers the phones in the local warehouse, said that people should make sure that items are placed in boxes with the official train logo and ‘Toys for Tots" written on it, to ensure that the gifts are distributed locally. He said there is a similar group advertising on Channels 31 and 5, which collects in White River Junction, but distributes in Burlington.

The Toys for Tots program was initiated in 1947 by Col. Bill Hendricks to provide Christmas toys to children who were disadvantaged as a result of World War II. His wife made and donated the first toy, which was a Raggedy Ann doll. The Marine Corps estimates that they have provided Christmas joy to over 200 million children in over 558 communities nationwide.

Tina Therrien, who shares McCullough’s commitment to children, coordinates the program at McCulloughs Quik Stop and questions about it can be addressed to her at the store.

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