Children from the Boys and Girls Club of Ames came out in force to Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Thursday night for an evening of games, good food, a magic show and a Santa Claus sighting complete with presents.

About 40 children filled the pine-scented house with excitement and noise as they played games to pass time until dinner.

Tiffani Jones, 9, won one of the limbo contests and was full of smiles as she explained her strategy. “I just hanged on until the end, but I think it also helped that I was smaller. I didn’t think about winning until there was just two of us left,” she said.

Marty Lester, program director of the Boys and Girls Club, didn’t make it vary far in the limbo contest, and all the kids laughed when he fell trying to go under the bar.

“This is one of our highlights of the year. These guys [Lambda Chi members] do a wonderful job with this. By the end of the summer the kids are already asking about when the Christmas party is going to be,” Lester said. Lambda Chi hosts the party annually.

For a rare few seconds, the house was quiet — aside from some snickers and wayward glances — as the members of the fraternity sang grace before dinner.

“It’s a lot of work, but in the end it’s a lot fun for everybody,” said Todd Buelow, vice president of Lambda Chi.

The event was co-sponsored by Delta Zeta Sorority.

Jamal Hayes, 8, said he was enjoying himself, and noted that the dinner was a lot better than his school lunch. As he wolfed down his favorites of potatoes and ham, Hayes talked about how he was going to be one of the magicians’ helpers.

“If the magician turns me invisible, I’m going to haunt people. I’m going to be a good ghost, though. I’ll even help do the dishes,” he said.

Hayes wasn’t so sure about the identity of Santa, but said he was going to enjoy his presents anyway. “Yeah, I’ll like my presents, as long as I don’t get a Barbie,” he said.

“This is really good for the kids,” added Santa Claus, otherwise known as Kim Spence, a member of Lambda Chi. “It’s good to see them smile and give them a good Christmas that they might not of otherwise had.”