Community brings Christmas back to Lannon
Merchants, residents and officials work to deck village for the holidays
A group of Lannon residents gathered around a tree at Village Hall on Monday night. Bundled against the cold, they sang carols and lit the tree at the corner of Main Street and Lannon and welcomed Christmas here.
The event is one Village Hall hasn't been able to invite the community to for a few years, but this year, the Lannon Holiday Project was created with hopes of beggining a new holiday tradition in the community.
"As a village trustee, I knew we didn't have any money in our funds for Christmas decorations, and the others were so old, they'd been thrown out," said Trustee Diane Daily, who explained that downtown road reconstruction closed downtown streets and took a toll on the budget.
"I knew this year was so tough on the village financially, and it was hard on everybody else as well … " she said of her initial drive to work on a concept to have the village work together to help fund Christmas decorations this year.
She went out to businesses and asked for donations, something that could seem daunting to many.
"When I started this, I was told if I get $2,000, I would be lucky," said Daily. "I got all this stuff donated, and we still raised $5,825," she said, noting that annual event Cars on Main donated the largest chunk to help.
Christmas in Lannon came in varied and creative fashions from community donors.
"Two of the first donations I will remember the most," said Daily. She said the local Boy Scout troop donated $40 from popcorn sales, and another boy donated $10 to the cause from his lemonade stand profits. "I thought it was really touching," she said.
When Daily contacted business owners, she was again touched by their generosity. AFW Foundry created and donated brackets to hold holiday banners on lamp posts along Main Street. M&D Auto Services provided the straps needed to hang the banners.
St. John's Elementary students created handmade ornaments for a tree set up inside Village Hall that was also donated, along with its stand. Lannon Elementary students created "green" ornaments to hang up outside Village Hall that are environmentally friendly, including some with treats for wildlife.
Daily said the Lannon Lions Club picked up the village's bill for the Halloween festivities, worth $500. The Lions just asked that the village instead put up $500 for the Christmas event. The Lannon Flame Tamers of the Lannon Fire Department also donated money and time to hang up the banners. Green Acres Self Storage will store everything for free after the holiday season and also pitched in monetarily; Schlafer Auto Body Inc gave the lights for the tree.
Numerous other village officials and business owners pitched in with donations of decorations and time. Team Electric Enterprise Inc. rewired Village Hall for free to accommodate all the seasonal lights. Daily said a few people even volunteered time to put a fresh coat of paint on Village Hall.
"Everybody wanted Christmas back," she said.
The group of families, residents, Santa and village officials on Monday gathered after the tree lighting for a bit of fellowship and enjoyed cookies and brownies compliments of Associated Bank and coffee and hot cocoa compliments of Quarry Coffee.
"What we accomplished in this short time has been miraculous. This has been one of the highlights of my life," she said.
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