This event has special meaning for me. Not only are the owners of Twisted Creek Farm the parents of long time clients and personal friends of ours, Mandi + Jon, but they are local small business owners that make an effort to give back to their community at every opportunity.

If you are in the Gettysburg or Emmitsburg area, have small children and have never been to Twisted Creek Farm before, it’s a truly special place to go. This family owned farm began raising goats many years ago and made the transition to Angus cattle last summer. In addition to the cattle, they still have a couple goats that call the farm home as well as some calves in the critter barn and chickens that are laying fresh eggs. It’s an amazing place to experience rural farm life and a blast for the kids to get up close and personal with the animals. They even get to participate in feedings and collect freshly laid eggs from the chickens!

From Nancy: Our main goal here at Twisted Creek is to make the majority of our events family friendly. That’s why we offer the Critter Barn and special kid’s events. You would not believe the number of kids, and adults for that matter, who have never had the opportunity to see farm animals up close and actually be able to pet them. This year we stepped out of our comfort zone and decided to have a Breakfast with Santa and sell Christmas trees. We know that everyone had different financial situations so in order to make this occasion “budget friendly” to everyone we opted to make the breakfast free to all. In addition, we cut the prices of the trees down to just $15 for that day only. We may not have made much money that day, but it was worth it to see the smiles on people’s faces.

This  year they hosted a breakfast with Santa event. This event was completely free to the public and a can’t miss community gathering. It brought people from all backgrounds together to celebrate the season and they travel from all over the area to hang by the bonfire, see the animals and visit with Santa to share their Christmas wish list. Christmas trees were available on site at a discounted price during the breakfast and the gift shop open for any special items you may need for a loved ones Christmas gift.. Mandi commented to me during the event that it reminded her of a Hallmark Christmas movie and she couldn’t be more right!

My girls are big fans of the farm and love that they actually get to participate in the daily light farm activities. My husband and I had already planned on joining the Twisted Creek family for this event as guests but I could resist the opportunity to give back to the people who do so much for our community every day. I was thrilled to be snapping away to commemorate and share with future generations.

Continued From Nancy: One of the most memorable moments of the season came when a person came into the store to purchase a tree for a friend who was going through a particularly hectic time and did not have the time or energy to deal with the seasonal tradition of tree buying. They saw a need and decided to make this family’s Christmas a little merrier and a little less stressful. This is the spirit of Christmas and this person’s small act of kindness made a huge impact on me. Sometimes we forget in all our hustle and bustle of the holidays that there are some people that could use a little “Christmas magic”! From all of us at Twisted Creek, we wish you a Merry Christmas and happy and blessed new year!

Nancy + Jim, it was so great to capture this special event for you all. Your family and Twisted Creek hold a special place in my heart. The girls love coming to the farm to see the animals and they had a blast at breakfast with Santa. Thank you for all you do for the community and the little ones!

-xo-

Jamie

Breakfast with Santa Special Helpers: The Farace Family (Jamie, Josh, Tyler, Alyssa and Maddie), The Holler Family (Jon, Mandi, Jake, Katelyn, Abigail and Natalie), Kelly Hill, Chris Yingling, Chase Yingling, Jim and Emilie Holler, Jim and Nancy Holler, and our Santa – Jeremy Schaffner