Deer’s “Ham Day” is in the Christmas spirit

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FAIRBORN — Fairborn residents got up bright and early to participate in Deer Heating and Cooling’s annual Christmas ham giveaway.

By the time owner and operator Mike Hall arrived at his business 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, ten cars were already in line to receive the Christmas hams. By the time the giveaway started at 9 a.m., cars had lined up all the way through Fairfield Park to Central Avenue.

“We started a little bit early because of that,” Hall said Wednesday morning, wearing a festive reindeer suit jacket. (The jacket is a gift from his wife, he said.)

The Christmas ham giveaway, now in its 12th year, saw the company give away 250 hams along with 5-pound bags of potatoes on a first-come, first-served basis.

Deer Heating and Cooling, a faith-based business, had pretty much closed normal operations for the day as workers pitched in to distribute the hams. Around 25 people helped to give out food, including Deer employees and some of their family members. Fairborn police also helped out with the giveaway by streamlining traffic flow and counting cars.

All 250 hams were given away by around noon Wednesday.

“It’s just a good thing to do. The community is good to us. Everyone needs something this year. Especially this year,” Hall said.

The woes of 2020 did not affect Deer’s Christmas ham giveaway in too drastic a fashion, other than requiring masks of all participants and workers. “Ham Day” has always been a drive-thru event, Hall noted, so allowing for coronavirus restrictions required only a slight adjustment.

“It’s our way of giving back to the community we live and work in,” Hall said in a company Facebook post.

The Nativity display outside the front of Deer Heating and Cooling.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/web1_GreenHams2020.1.jpgThe Nativity display outside the front of Deer Heating and Cooling.

The drive-thru crew on Deer Heating and Cooling’s “Ham Day.”
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/web1_GreenHams2020.2.jpgThe drive-thru crew on Deer Heating and Cooling’s “Ham Day.”

Children mask up to help deliver potatoes to Fairborn community members.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/web1_GreenHams2020.3.jpgChildren mask up to help deliver potatoes to Fairborn community members.

A young volunteer gets hams ready to be passed out through the drive-thru window.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/web1_GreenHams2020.4.jpgA young volunteer gets hams ready to be passed out through the drive-thru window.

A Deer employee helps distribute potatoes on “Ham Day.”
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2020/12/web1_GreenHams2020.5.jpgA Deer employee helps distribute potatoes on “Ham Day.”

By London Bishop

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Reach London Bishop at 937-502-4532 or follow @LBishopFDH on Twitter.

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