During the holiday season the folks at State Bank of Long Island donate their time and talent to entertain a variety of facilities in the area. Due to the initiative of Senior Vice President Robert J. Valli, who plays the guitar and organizes the bank group and some members of the North Hempstead Town Board, they have embraced this project for the past ten years.

The two sites of the Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC) is the place that has been visited by the group year after year. Both the facility in Brookville and the one in East Hills welcomes the State Bank group as they don elf hats and sing holiday-after-holiday songs and then Santa arrives, who is really a retired vice president of the bank, Frank DeGaray. After greeting all the clients in the audience, "Santa," then comes to the mike and always has a few words of wisdom about the holiday to give to the group, which is very touching.

The most fun is when the clients at each facility are chosen to come on the stage and join in the singing and then at the end of the program Valli leads the entire group in both AHRC facilities in a Conga Line winding around the auditorium to the tune of Feliz Navidad. A really big hit because everyone has a chance to enter in the fun.

This year State Bank of Long Island included Harbor Day Care at the Herricks Community Center, New Hyde Park and Abilities, in Albertson, in its list of stops much to the delight of all the children. At Harbor Day close to 50 children had a chance to go on the Herricks Community Theater stage and sing and dance holiday songs and they were thrilled. In most cases, because they are so young, the children didn't much know what they were singing, but they had fun dancing around the stage and being part of the festivities.

Valli and his entire entourage are to be commended for giving so freely of their time to bring just a little joy to others in one of the busiest seasons of the year.