DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Local drummer Arti Dixson plays with the same feverish intensity he devotes to creating joy for thousands of children across the state, with his sponsorship of an annual toy drive that must have Santa worrying about his job as gift-giver-in-chief.
Dixson and the hundreds of devotees of his annual mission celebrated 25 years of collecting toys for children at a soiree that, this year, required turning away over 100 guests from the Woodwinds, a large banquet and wedding facility in Branford.
Each year the facility’s broad, central staircase is transformed into a cascading waterfall of toys that guests bring. Toys, in fact, are the only form of currency accepted.
“I don’t collect money — I collect toys,” says Dixson.
The collected toys are taken to churches, agencies, and community centers in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Waterbury, but also to places not usually associated with need: Wallingford, North Haven, Branford, Woodbridge, West Haven, Orange, and several Fairfield County towns, like Westport, Darien, and Stamford. Some of this year’s recipients included New Haven’s Immanuel Baptist Church, Hill Health Center, Children’s Community Programs, St. Ann Church, and the Heritage of Parents Daycare Center.
The event draws musical luminaries from near and far for a giant jam session, sing-along, and dance party. It was sold out by September after ticket sales began in June. Scott Bialczak, the manager at Woodwinds, has helped facilitate the event for 15 years, at close to cost.
Dixson’s annual mission was inspired, he said, by a middle-of-the-night epiphany 25 years ago after speaking to a Minister Sly about the great need for toys at New Haven’s historic Immanuel Baptist Church. The following day, Dixson began calling fellow musicians with the idea of collecting toys. Their first soiree, held at The Palms, a restaurant once located in downtown New Haven, drew around 30 guests. This year’s event overflowed the Woodwinds, which boasts a capacity of 600 guests.
From Car Keys to Alicia Keys
Bialczak noted the many hours of work that Dixson and supporters put in, from set up to gathering and distributing toys from the Woodwinds. Among his many tasks in ensuring the event runs smoothly, Bialczak himself could be seen early parking cars.
Musician Tony Aiardo hosted a massive sing-along that pitted one banquet section against another in a rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” During the vocal duel, designated sections tried to outdo one another with bullhorns, whistles, handbells, cheering, and extreme napkin waving.
After the sing-along, the doo wop sound of Stamford’s Royal Kings brought guests to their feet immediately with classic oldies that elicited involuntary movement and singing across the dance floor.
A long list of world class musicians played throughout the night. Dixson noted that the musicians have played gigs with Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Blood Sweat & Tears, Smokey Robinson, Sting, and Earth Wind and Fire, to name a few.
For Dixson and each of the volunteers who make the event possible, the joy of giving was palpable. The irrepressible smile on the face of the man in the red jacket was matched by the hundreds who came out to celebrate and give.
