Los Banos Rotary Club History
1300 Youngsters See Yule Shows

More than 1300 children from the Los Banos area flocked to the Del Rio Theatre Monday for two big Christmas theatre parties given under the joint auspices of the Rotary and Lions Club and the Fresno Bee.

Because of the large attendance the first party in the morning at 10:30 was for rural children; the second party at 2 p.m. was open to residential youths.
For the morning show, 600 children showed up eager to see Santa Claus, munch on Yule candy provided by the two service clubs and the Bee, and see a fine Christmas show. Attendance at the afternoon party was higher with 700 kiddies present.

The theatre's manager, Mrs. Frank (Bennie) Silva, was on hand to greet them at the door, and they were guided to their seats by ushers from the Rotary and Lions Clubs.

Once inside, the youngsters received a hearty welcome from Santa Claus who started them off singing Christmas carols. Socks filled top quality candy were distributed to eager hands, and they also received a candy stick through the courtesy of the Fresno Bee.

The youngsters' conduct was highly praised by Rotary President Bill Woo. He said the Bee representative who provided the films commented that of all parties in the valley (27), Los Banos had the most orderly group of children.
Rotarians and Lions were on hand to watch over the safety of the merrymakers, but they might as well have stayed home. The youngster's conduct, to quote Woo, was exemplary.

December 28, 1951

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