12/24/2011:
The Fargo Forum reported on an admirable decision made by the Enderlin community on this date in 1934. Members of the executive committee of the Community Welfare Board and representatives of the American Legion and Kiwanis Club voted to sacrifice the annual community Christmas tree in order to help the city’s struggling families instead. Funds reserved for the tree’s purchase were instead used to fill Christmas baskets with milk and dairy products for the needy. Baskets were assembled by six volunteers and distributed by Mr. Henry Ekre and the Enderlin Boy Scout troop. The act of charity was only one of many made by North Dakotan communities during the Depression years of the 1930s, although made especially salient during the holiday season.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. Monday (Evening ed.), December 24, 1934: p. 2.