Pontiac Santa House needs renovation help

Posted on August 13, 2017
Donations to renovate the Santa House are being accepted through cans at several Pontiac businesses and directly through the PROUD office. (Photo courtesy PROUD)

By Cynthia Grau

PONTIAC – A downtown Pontiac group wants to renovate a Christmastime staple.

The Santa House needs some work and the group Pontiac Redeveloping our United Downtown, or PROUD, is looking for help. Director Jessi Finkenbinder said there are many people that have already signed up to assist with the repairs of the home, so now they’re looking for materials.

“We need insulation, because the house originally doesn’t have insulation in it,” Finkbinder explained. “We need heat, but we are looking for something different. We’re looking for an electric fireplace or a pot belly stove, just to give it a fresh and modern look and we need to make sure the heat isn’t hot to the touch. We need lots and lots of paint. We need new windows and we also need various decorations, new furniture and various things along those lines.”

The Save the Santa House fundraiser includes ten donation cans located at different Pontiac businesses. Finkenbinder said the money raised through that would also go to materials, and anything raised above the needed amount will buy Christmas gifts for children for the Pontiac Salvation Army.

For more information or to donate, contact Finkenbinder at 815-326-2354.

Cynthia Grau can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…