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Four decades ago, Marley Holte and his wife Margaret began a tradition of hosting annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for those in need, complete with a visit from Santa and presents for the children.
Twenty years after his death, local players will once again gather at Ridgemark Country Club on Nov. 7 to support the Marley Holte Holiday Dinners through the organization’s major fundraiser and toy drive, the Bad Santa Golf Tournament.
The dinner tradition began in 1986, when the couple agreed that, rather than buying Christmas gifts for each other, they would host those who could not otherwise afford a holiday dinner or had no place to celebrate the season.
By the time Holte died in 2006, the two dinners drew as many as 1,000 participants a year, inspiring others to carry on the tradition.
Gerardo Gallo stumbled onto the dinners by chance. He and his golfing partner, Ernie Chapa, founded the Bad Santa tournament after Gallo’s experience as a volunteer with the Carmel Youth Center for the 2010 U.S. Open.
“We were both really into golf and we wanted to do something for the community,” Gallo said. “We started off with every golfer bringing a toy, and then we started to put in some money ourselves, just to make it sweeter. We’d go to the store and buy more toys.”
At first, the two of them loaded a trailer with toys and distributed them at the labor camps and made home deliveries to those in need. That changed one evening when they found they had more toys than they knew what to do with. They were told there was a line of people waiting to get into the Marley Holte dinner at Sacred Heart Church.
“We saw a bunch of kids there,” Gallo said. “So we told them, ‘Hey, we have toys,’ and they all came and grabbed one. Someone came outside and told us that we shouldn’t do that—the kids were playing with the toys and didn’t want to eat. So we gave them to them to distribute.”
Ever since then, Bad Santa has supported the Marley Holte dinners by providing toys and funds, combined with community donations, to cover the expenses, including pots and pans.
“It feels good to give back,” Gallo said. “I wish there had been an organization that was around to give toys when I was a kid. Throughout the years, I’ve seen some incredible smiles. It just uplifts their spirits, and that makes me feel incredible.”
The tournament is a four-person scramble, where the team’s players combine into one group score. Prizes are given for first and second place, the longest drive, and closest to the pin, as well as one for the most festively dressed player.
This year, Gallo is also hoping for a donation of a car to be made to the first player to score a hole-in-one.
“Nobody’s won it,” Gallo said, “but hopefully this year somebody will hit it, and it will be great to make somebody’s day by awarding them a car.”
The event is topped off by a dinner for the players, with ticketed entry available to the general public. Larry Norcross describes the dinner as “spectacular.”
“It is all sit-down, and you are getting a full, awesome meal,” he said. “For the money, it is worth every damn penny of it.”
Norcross first got involved with Marley Holte two years ago by volunteering to deliver holiday meals to those in need who can’t attend in person. What he saw at the Christmas dinner had a deep emotional impact on him.
“We came back after my deliveries and then I hung around just to see how organized the entire process was,” he said. “The smiles on those kids’ faces who didn’t have anything for Christmas to begin with—they were just overjoyed. It got me. Hook, line, sinker and fishing pole.”
Norcross said that the toys are separated into age groups and left unwrapped so the children can decide which is best for them.
“What they want is what they get,” he said. “And the parents? They are so happy their kids are getting a gift that some moms and dads start crying. I’ve done a lot of charity, including Toys for Tots. I’ve done this and that. But Bad Santa is the one that means the most to me.”
This year’s Marley Holte dinners will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, and Christmas Day, Dec. 25, from noon to 3 p.m. at Sacred Heart School, 670 College Street in Hollister.
Marley Holte President Nikki Vineyard said that the organization is still looking for players for the tournament, as well as donations of toys and volunteers for the two dinners. Vineyard also encouraged those in need to join the season’s celebration at Sacred Heart.
“We have a Santa that comes and anybody can get dinner and a toy,” she said. “It is a community event, and everyone is welcome.”
To contact Marley Holte to volunteer or contribute, email marleyholteholiday@gmail.com or call Nikki Vineyard at (831) 245-5718 or Ellen Miller at (831) 524-0654. To sign up for Bad Santa, complete this form.
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