Stetson, Q House Transform Into A Winter Wonderland

Top: Some of the volunteers during a rare quiet part of the day. Bottom: The Watleys with Stetson Branch Manager Diane X. Brown. Danielle Campbell Photos.

Inside the Stetson Branch Library, parents Marcus and Alicia Watley passed by shelves of tightly packed books, making their way over to a pile of baby clothes for their 7-month-old daughter Charlotte. Nearby, Watley sisters Sydney and Savannah played with toy cars, librarians helping them rev the engines on the building's carpet. Their brother, Marcus Jr., looked through the clothing as Brielle, the eldest sibling, helped watch the bunch, beaming with the pride of an older sister. 

Around them, volunteers buzzed through the space in red and white t-shirts, spreading Christmas cheer. The day was young, and already it seemed that the whole building was in the holiday spirit.

That kicked off a day-long holiday celebration and "Winter Wonderland" at the Stetson Branch Library and Dixwell Community Q House, held in late December as Christmas Eve eve fell over the city. A collaboration among over two dozen city nonprofits and small businesses, the event brought out over 1,000 people, from babies and toddlers to doting grandparents and elders who still believe in the magic and miracles of the season. In its inaugural year, it doubled as a celebration of community.

Some of the event's organizers.

Organizers included Kristen Threatt and Brian Burkett Thompson of Gorilla Lemonade and Eat Up Foundation LLC, Reese McLeod also of Eat Up Foundation LLC, Erick Evans Jr. of Good Brothas Detailing and Car Care, and Rashaan Boyd of A Hustlers Vibe.

Sponsors, of which there were over 40, included Yale New Haven Health, the New Haven Fire Department, New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism, Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, Greater New Haven NAACP Possible Future Bookstore, and the Freddie Fixer Parade Committee, Inc. among many others.

“The importance is to show these kids [that] you have people that really truly love and have some support in what you doing, what you got going on,” Thompson said in an interview at Stetson before the event picked up. “Kids soak that in, and they soak in bad energy, too. So, if you ain't showing no love, you're not giving that, you're not trying to show no support. They soak that in and that's when the streets get em.”

Bottom: Emmanuel Tineo, Dominique MacCalla's Fiance, helping Landon with a coat as mother Lizzie Ash and grandmother Jill Little look on.

Threatt said that he was originally inspired to create this event by the loss of his own baby girl, Krystal Pearl Threatt, on the day she was born—December 25,  2012. Every year, he spends the holidays thinking about the life she would have lived, and the gifts she would have enjoyed on her birthday and for Christmas. This year, he said, he tapped into that energy by giving back to his community—and was thrilled for others to join him along the way.

“As a community, when we come together, we can make great things happen,” he said. “If it wasn't for them [community members] supporting us and Gorilla Lemonade, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do something as special as this, this celebration.”

Those festivities began on Saturday morning, as Stetson Branch Manager Diane X. Brown, Stetson librarians and a group of volunteers opened the branch to neighborhood families, offering up clothes, coats, shoes, toys, books, care packages, and diapers on the cusp of the Christmas holiday. There to lend a hand, Dominique MacCalla and her fiancé Emmanuel Tineo jumped into action, helping families find the right sizes and try on coats.

“There are a lot of people in need, especially during the holidays,” MacCalla said. “It's getting cold outside. Some people don't have coats. So, it's nice that people can come and get coats and know that they're gonna have something warm, especially as it gets really cold.”

Robert Hayes with Cheyenne Salamacha and their daughter Hayden Hayes, as well as Corey Butler and daughter Illeana.

Watley, there with her husband and five young kids, praised community members for coming together to give back, especially around the holidays. In the years since the Covid-19 pandemic first hit New Haven, she said, “it’s very important to be a village.” As a parent of five, it also helps her know that she and her husband aren’t going through any of it alone.

Nearby, mother Lizzie Ash and her mother-in-law, Jill Little, said they were also grateful for the event, particularly during the holiday season. With her son, Noah, at home, Ash had the morning to spend quality time with her daughters, Landon and London. She noted how important it was for Landon to see people giving back—and to understand the beauty of charity and gifting in real time.

As she watched parents arrive in the space, tending to kids and families, Brown said she is extremely proud of Threatt and Thompson. For years, Stetson has hosted holiday events, from Christmas concerts with Chris “Big Dog” Davis to visits from Santa Claus to Nutcracker-themed dance workshops. This year, she said, their participation created a totally unique and different event that she hopes the library can participate in for years to come.

“For them to step up to the plate and say, ‘You know it’s not about just me, it’s about me giving back,’ They’re leading by example,” she said. “It’s hard to find people like this. I don’t run into this every day. I’m working with them because they’re doing what I’ve been doing for so many years and they get it.”

The morning event was just the beginning. By dusk, hundreds of families—and over 150 volunteers—had arrived at the Q House, lining up outside as the "Winter Wonderland" snapped cheerily into action.

Inside the building’s gymnasium—transformed into a festive landscape with bright balloons—Threatt and Thompson ushered in a full-fledged party. Holiday cheer, it seemed, was everywhere, with gift giveaways, free snacks and pizza, bouncy houses, visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus and the Grinch, and music from DJ Herman Ham.

As families filled the gym, laughter rippled through the space, from a gingerbread house and holiday village with fake snow to a photo station with Santa and the Grinch. At stations, children colored and received face paint and free books, nibbled on popcorn, and posed for impromptu photos in front of a candy-cane-patterned house.

At the center of the room, a Christmas tree waited with gifts wrapped neatly under its branches. Threatt explained that they were raffle prizes, for which every family was entered upon entrance.

As she waited in line with her family to get a toy, New Havener Timeka Daniels said she was in awe at the spectacular display of a true Winter Wonderland.

“It was beautiful,” she said. “Lots of people showed up, children. I think that we should have more things like this in our community. It turned out to be something very amazing and exciting and I pray next year they can do it again. I enjoyed myself."

For more from the event, watch a video from Threatt here.